‘Sorrow and joy’ as body of woman killed in S.F. cliff collapse found, family says
A body found Monday on a beach below an old military installation in San Francisco has been identified as Kyra Sunshine Scarlet, 22, who vanished when a 200-foot cliff toppled onto her Feb. 22, her family says.
Scarlet, who had grown up in Florida and Utah, was walking a dog on the beach with a friend when the sandstone cliff buried them, McClatchy earlier reported. Bystanders freed her friend and the dog, but days of searching failed to find Scarlet.
“It is with sorrow and joy that we are able to announce that our beloved ‘mermaid’ Kyra Sunshine has been recovered,” her family wrote Tuesday on a GoFundMe page.
The Golden Gate National Recreation Area announced Monday that a woman’s body had been found at the base of the cliffs below Fort Funston.
The Scarlet family’s message thanked firefighters and other rescuers for their efforts.
“Just as we were starting to come to grips our loss of our beloved daughter, sister, aunt, niece and friend we got this bittersweet news,” the family wrote. They also thanked friends and loved ones for their support.
Incoming waves had forced the two women partway up a 200-foot sandstone cliff, The Mercury News reported. Then part of the cliff collapsed at 2:30 p.m., burying the dog-walkers and sweeping them onto the beach.
“Ocean waves come into the bluff and undermine it,” said Charlie Strickfaden, a National Park Services spokesperson, KNTV reported. “Unfortunately we consider this a tragic natural event.”
“Crews made a very valiant attempt at saving this young woman’s life. It hurts, it’s tough,” Chief Joanne Hayes-White said at the time, KNTV reported. “We train to save lives and something like this today is difficult for us.”
Fort Funston, located on the cliffs above the beach, opened in the early 1900s, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy says. It housed 16-inch gun batteries and Nike missiles over its life as an active military base.
The former fort and beach, which are now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, are popular with hang-gliders and dog-walkers, the conservancy says.
This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 2:24 PM with the headline "‘Sorrow and joy’ as body of woman killed in S.F. cliff collapse found, family says."