Newspaper Article
San Ramon Valley High student drowns near Trinity Lake
By Andrew Gordon
TIMES STAFF WRITER
A 15-year-old San Ramon Valley High School student drowned Sunday night after falling into a swift-running stream in Trinity County.
Samantha Sekera was at the Trinity Alps Resort, standing on a rocky cliff above a fast-moving stream that feeds into Trinity Lake, according to Trinity County deputy coroner Bill Fischer. She was with three other friends.
Shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, Samantha and a 17-year-old male friend fell from the cliff into Stuart's Fork, a creek swollen with spring runoff from the Trinity Alps area west of Trinity Lake, Fischer said. The male friend managed to make it to shore, but Samantha drowned. Authorities found her body in Trinity Lake around 1 a.m. today.
The Trinity County Sheriff's and Search and Rescue departments responded to the incident, as did the Weaverville Fire and Rescue Department. Trinity County is between Humboldt and Shasta counties.
The news of Samantha's death stunned people at the high school, where she was a cheerleader and was going to be a part of the sophomore student leadership group next year.
"We're just devastated," said Principal Dave Lorden. "She was a very popular girl here at school. She was just a wonderful, wonderful student."
Samantha's brother Matt, will be a senior next year, and her mother Cindi teaches technology classes at the Danville high school.
Lorden said he had just spoken with Cindi, and the family is "devastated," trying to deal with the confusion and grief.
Lorden said a team of counselors will be on campus through Friday this week, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., for friends and students who need help dealing with the shock and grief.
"She loved to have fun," said 14-year-old Xanadu Bruggers, a fellow cheerleader with Samantha. "She loved going to the movies and she loved going to parties. That was her big thing."
Xanadu described her friend as sweet, and said she could be demanding as a cheerleader "in an energetic way. She was just a very well-rounded person."
Fischer said there are usually one or two drownings every few years in the Trinity Alps area.
Xanadu said she and Samantha were planning to go to cheerleading camp together later this summer.
Staff writer Tony Hicks contributed to this story.
