The San Francisco medical examiner has identified the woman who was found dead inside a duffel bag near the Outside Lands Music Festival last week.
Kelly Koike, a 37-year-old San Francisco resident, was pronounced dead at the scene in Golden Gate Park near the site of the music festival last Sunday evening. The medical examiner has declared the death suspicious, but nothing has been revealed about the cause of death yet, and the investigation is ongoing.
Koike, who was unhoused at the time of her death, grew up in Castro Valley and attended culinary school in San Francisco. In an interview with ABC7 News, Koike’s mother Roya revealed that her daughter had been struggling with mental-health issues including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She also shed light on the kind of person Koike was: studious and jaw-droppingly beautiful with a big heart, and someone with a passion for makeup and design, so much so that she altered her eyes to make them look completely white.
Roya described fearing for her daughter’s safety in San Francisco and said she had tried to help her, offering to let Koike live at home as long as she followed the rules. She said that when Koike was herself, “we were best buddies.”
Koike’s tragic death is a reminder of the increased risk of sexual violence faced by women experiencing homelessness, as well as the increased threat of violence faced by those dealing with mental illness.
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