Cliff Fall Kills Former Cotati Woman 4 Days Before Her Birthday

The former Cotati resident who died Sunday when she fell from a cliff in San Diego was days away from returning to her graduate studies at the University of Illinois in Chicago.

Anna Bachman died four days before her 26th birthday.

She was having her picture taken by her sister when she "slipped and fell down a cliff" in the 700 block of Sunset Cliff Boulevard around 5:20 p.m., the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said on its website.

Bystanders tried to resuscitate her, but paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene. The medical examiner's office called her death accidental.

Bachman, a former Cotati resident, was living in Chicago where she was earning a Master's Degree in Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois spokesman Sam Hostettler said.

She enrolled in the university in the fall of 2012 and was taking 12 credits during the upcoming spring semester, Hostettler said. "She was an excellent student. She was an associate member of the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association and an undergraduate at UC Berkeley."

She also worked with Habitat for Humanity between 2011-2012. When she died, Bachman was visiting her sister Gail, who lives in Ocean Beach and attends San Diego State University, according to Gail Bachman's Facebook page.

"So excited! Especially to get some sun on that pale face," Anna Bachman posted on Jan. 2. "I hope sunny San Diego doesn't disappoint, although it said it might be in the 60s next week! boooo!" Gail replied.

The family has not said whether a memorial service is planned.

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