Human remains found in Point Reyes confirmed to be those of missing campus student
The Marin County Coroner’s Office identified a set of human remains found in Point Reyes as those belonging to Shuqin Zhang, a UC Berkeley student who went missing in January.
Zhang was last seen Jan. 7 at 1:30 a.m. in Berkeley. Her vehicle was found Jan. 9 at Point Reyes near the lighthouse, according to the Berkeley Police Department.
On Apr. 23, hikers in Point Reyes discovered what they thought were human bones on Drakes Beach. Another set of bones was discovered by Marin County Search and Rescue on Apr. 29 on a sandy beach in the same vicinity, according to Marin County Chief Deputy Coroner Darrell Harris.
The two sets of bones were taken to the California Department of Justice’s DNA lab, where they were compared against each other to confirm that they were from the same person.
Based off of the Coast Guard’s assessment of the tides and Zhang’s last known location, it was estimated that the remains could have washed up in the same location they were found. Using DNA from Zhang’s family, lab tests confirmed the remains were those of Zhang’s.
Zhang was a student in the campus statistics masters program.
Harris said the cause and manner of death are currently undetermined and no foul play is suspected.
The remains have been sent to Zhang’s family, Harris said.
Cassandra Vogel is an assistant news editor. Contact her at cvogel@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @cass_vogxz.