Bones found near Point Reyes IDd as missing UC Berkeley student

View of the 300 steps leading down to the Point Reyes Lighthouse at the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County. Remains recovered from a beach in the area were positively identified as Shuqin Zhang, 22, a UC Berkeley graduate student missing since January. less View of the 300 steps leading down to the Point Reyes Lighthouse at the Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County. Remains recovered from a beach in the area were positively identified as Shuqin Zhang, 22, ... more Photo: CHRIS STEWART, SFC Photo: CHRIS STEWART, SFC Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Bones found near Point Reyes IDd as missing UC Berkeley student 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

Bones found by hikers on the sweeping shoreline of Drakes Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore in April were identified as those of a missing UC Berkeley graduate student, officials confirmed Wednesday.

The student, Shuqin Zhang, 22, was pursuing her master’s degree in statistics and was last seen in Berkeley on Jan. 7.

Friends had told authorities that Zhang had seemed depressed, had failed a class and just missed an important flight to China before disappearing.

#Berkeley PD: 22 y/o Shuqin Zhang, @UCBerkeley grad is missing & at-risk. May be driving 2003 white Mercedes C250 pic.twitter.com/qoE9GGPSDt — KTVU (@KTVU) January 9, 2016

Officials used Zhang’s cell phone data to determine that she was headed to the coast before she went missing. She was believed to have been on her way to Bodega Bay.

Authorities subsequently found her white Mercedes-Benz near the Point Reyes Lighthouse, said Sgt. Andrew Frankel, a spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department. Later, searchers found items belonging to Zhang on a cliff overlooking the ocean.

However, a sweep of the area by multiple agencies, including the National Park Service, U.S. Coast Guard and Marin County Search and Rescue, was unsuccessful in finding Zhang.

Several months later, in April, hikers in the area spotted bones they suspected to be human. They later contacted authorities.

Marin County Sheriff’s Office Coroner Division officials said they subsequently found two sets of human remains at the Drakes seashore, near the base of the famous white sandstone cliffs

Officials said they found the first set of remains April 26 and the second April 29.

Coroner officials listed Zhang’s cause and manner of death as undetermined.