By all accounts Liz Hamel was the kind of girl everyone loved.

The life of the party, her friends said she had the gift of bringing the best out of people. If you were in a bad mood, Liz could fix it, just with a smile on her face.

But that joyous life was tragically cut short, and no one seems to know why. 

Hamel died under mysterious circumstances. She reportedly fell from a third-story breezeway at the San Rafael apartments at UCSB. A passer-by found her on the ground and called 9-1-1.

That was Valentine’s Day. Hamel died six days later reportedly from a brain injury. Click on the YouTube video to watch Santa Barbara Talks.

Authorities have released scant details, so much so that the family has hired a private investigator and attorney to investigate the cause of Hamel’s death. They are hoping someone will come forward and offer any details on how she died. 

So what happened to this 18-year-old freshman with the whole world in front of her?

Watch the podcast above where Josh Molina talks about what we know. Also visit Noozhawk.com for ongoing coverage.

Molina also recaps the latest on the Los Patos Bridge in Santa Barbara and plans to close the popular highway exit to replace the railroad crossing.

Joshua Molina is journalist who currently writes for Noozhawk and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. He formerly covered politics and land use for the San Jose Mercury News. Santa Barbara Talks is an independently owned podcast where Molina looks to bring together voices from all perspectives to discuss and provide solutions to the challenges related to housing, education, transportation and other community issues. Subscribe to his podcast here and consider a contribution here.