Family of girl who plunged to death from California dam reveal ambitious plan to honor teen
The family of a teen girl who fell to her death near a dam in Big Bear want to honor her legacy by opening a bakery.Big Bear resident Isabella Fanuele, 18, who was known to loved ones as “Bella,” was hanging out with friends beneath the Highway 18 bridge next to the dam just after 11 p.m.on Tuesday when the tragic accident occurred.“Her and a bunch of her friends were just going under there, like kids have been doing for a bunch of years,” Bella’s distraught father, Danny Fanuele, told The California Post.Bella, who had just graduated from Big Bear High School, was looking forward to starting college and pursuing her dream of opening a bakery, he said.Bella’s father said she had previously started her own cooking business in school and wanted to open her own bakery.Loved ones have now launched an online fundraiser to help make Bella’s dream a reality.
“Her family is now facing the unimaginable, and they need support to help them through this difficult time,” a description on the GoFundMe page reads.“Funds raised will go toward funeral expenses, counseling for those closest to Bella, and, if possible, creating a bakery in her name to honor her memory and her dreams.”The page described Bella as “full of hope and excitement for the future,” adding that her “energy and kindness touched everyone around her.”As of Friday mroning, the effort had raised more than $11,000 of its $14,000 goal.Fanuele described his daughter as a terrific student who was “always on the honor roll.” She excelled at varsity softball and golf, according to her high school web page.The teen was seen posing with her brother at her high school graduation, wearing a white robe and clutching two bouquets of roses just two weeks before she died.The bridge where the tragedy occurred is a local landmark spanning two sides of a rocky embankment adjacent to Big Bear Dam, a concrete structure more than eight stories high that’s located on Big Bear Lake.Investigators...