Young Man Questioned in Relation to UC Santa Barbara Student’s Death

Witnesses Saw Liz Hamel, 18, and a Man Leave Lao Wang Together About 20 Minutes Before 9-1-1 Call

Liz Hamel was celebrating Valentine’s Day with her friends at Lao Wang, an Asian-fusion restaurant and bar in Isla Vista, on the night she fell. | Credit: Courtesy

This article was underwritten in part by the Mickey Flacks Journalism Fund for Social Justice, a proud, innovative supporter of local news. To make a contribution go to sbcan.org/journalism_fund.

UC Santa Barbara first-year Elizabeth “Liz” Hamel died more than two months ago, after seemingly falling from a breezeway at the San Rafael dorm. But questions surrounding her death are still unanswered.

Last Thursday, the UC Police Department stated it had located and interviewed an individual related to the incident. The announcement comes after Hamel’s family asked the community for more information on the man, who was seen with Hamel shortly before she fell.

“This public appeal to the UCSB and Santa Barbara communities was made to help identify the person who was last seen with Liz,” the Hamel family’s attorney, Tyrone Maho of Maho Prentice LLP, said in a statement on May 2. “We asked for information about what happened that evening. Fortunately, the response was absolutely amazing. Many people came forward, identifying this person, and the family is so grateful.”

Maho held a press conference on April 30, where he was joined by Hamel’s father, Alain Hamel, and the family’s private investigator, Michael Claytor, in asking the community for information. That conference, as well as fliers with the man’s photo and a tip line, prompted dozens of tips at all hours of the day and night, Claytor said.

Claytor, who answered these tip calls, said he was struck by how many people were calling in tears.

“This has really affected the community,” he told the Independent.

At the April 30 press conference, Maho said that they were not accusing anyone of wrongdoing, and were looking for more information.

Hamel, who was 18 years old at the time of her death, was born and raised in Bellevue, Washington, before heading to UCSB last fall.

“Liz was studying biology and chemistry. She wanted to be a scientist. She made friends, she joined a sorority, she has her whole life ahead of her,” the May 2 statement said.

Her father, Alain Hamel, told the Independent she “was the happiest she’d ever been” at UCSB.

According to a GoFundMe page started by another UCSB parent to help cover funeral and medical costs, more than 110 people attended Hame’s funeral, exceeding the capacity of the funeral home.

“Liz was talented, beautiful, glamorous, intelligent, and funny,” her father wrote in a eulogy. “I miss her with every breath, but I’m endlessly grateful for every moment we had.”

Hamel was celebrating Valentine’s Day with her friends at Lao Wang, an Asian-fusion restaurant and bar in Isla Vista, on the night she fell.

According to the flier that the Hamel family and private investigator Claytor sent out, witnesses saw her spending time with and then later leaving with the young man at the restaurant. The man was described as blond and about 6 feet tall.

The walk from Lao Wang to San Rafael takes between five and ten minutes, and Hamel’s phone and ID were left at the bar, her father told the Independent. Hamel didn’t live in San Rafael, but in a different residence hall on the other side of campus, farther from Isla Vista.

“You can see her in pictures very happy at 10:06 p.m.,” her father said. “Then, 20 minutes later, she’s found at San Rafael on the concrete, probably having fallen from the second- or third-story breezeway.”

Breezeways at San Rafael connect different areas of the dorm. The section of the dorm where Hamel was found had breezeways with railings.

At 10:27 p.m., the 9-1-1 call was made regarding an unconscious student. The caller was “known to police” and therefore not a suspect, Hamel’s father said. Hamel was taken to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, where she underwent immediate surgery due to head injuries. Doctors were unable to identify her that evening.

The next morning, Hamel’s friends filed a missing person’s report. They were directed to the hospital to identify her, and Hamel’s parents were notified that afternoon. Hamel was eventually declared brain dead on February 20 and died the following day.

Timely warnings are sometimes sent out to all university students in the event of a death on campus. There is no evidence of a timely warning being released in this instance.

In a statement, the university said “officers have conducted numerous interviews and have been systematically reviewing and accounting for all the available information related to the incident” as well as regularly meeting with family.

The Hamel family’s private investigator Claytor and attorney Maho said they still need the public’s help with information, and that there are a lot of answers they don’t have. That includes people who witnessed Hamel or accounts if someone spoke to a person about seeing or being involved in the incident.

A statement released on May 2 from Hamel’s attorney said: “The family still has valid questions and concerns about their daughter’s death and they have every right to continue to advocate for their only child. We are still seeking information from anyone in the community about that evening, as well as anyone who knows this person who was with her — so we can determine what actually took place that evening.”

For tips, you can call UCPD at (805) 893-3446 or Claytor Investigatons at (805) 335-3851.