The family of a Big Bear teenager who died after falling near a local dam is hoping to keep her memory alive by turning one of her biggest dreams into reality: opening a bakery.
Isabella Fanuele, an 18-year-old Big Bear resident affectionately known as “Bella” by family and friends, was with a group beneath the Highway 18 bridge near the dam shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday when the fatal accident happened.
“Her and a bunch of her friends were just going under there, like kids have been doing for a bunch of years,” her grieving father, Danny Fanuele, told The California Post.
Bella had recently graduated from Big Bear High School and was preparing for the next chapter of her life, with plans to attend college while continuing to chase her passion for baking, her father said.
According to Danny Fanuele, his daughter had already shown an entrepreneurial spark by launching a small cooking business while still in school, and she dreamed of one day owning a bakery of her own.
In the wake of her death, relatives and friends have created an online fundraiser aimed at supporting the family and, if possible, helping bring Bella’s bakery dream to life in her honor.
“Her family is now facing the unimaginable, and they need support to help them through this difficult time,” the GoFundMe description says. “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 fundraising page remembers Bella as someone “full of hope and excitement for the future,” noting that her “energy and kindness touched everyone around her.”
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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 say Isabella was underneath the Highway 18 bridge with friends when she fell from the top of the bridge’s support structure.
Deputies and firefighters with the Big Bear Fire Department traversed the hillside to reach her, finding her at the bottom of the gully.
Dramatic video from the scene showed firefighters using a crane to lift a stretcher out of the embankment where Isabella fell.
Big Bear authorities said a preliminary investigation found no indication of suspicious circumstances surrounding her death.
An investigation remains ongoing.
