It was by chance that a couple from Capitola walking the remote shoreline of San Gregorio State Beach on a Sunday afternoon came upon the body of a Richmond teen missing since Sept. 27, 2012.
It was an Albany High School student who later identified the girl as Cathy Qiu, a fellow classmate, after seeing a report of the washed up body on television. Qiu, a 16-year-old Albany High School student, is best known for being highly intelligent, playful and always with a tennis racket.
The couple who called 9-1-1 upon finding Qiu does not want to relive their experience out of respect for Qiu and her family. Instead, they give Qiu’s family and friends a more peaceful and poignant vision of her by writing this letter to all of Qiu’s loved ones and to the Patch readers following this story:
To the Family and Friends of Cathy Qiu and to the Readers,
We are the couple who found your daughter/grand daughter/niece/cousin/friend near San Gregorio State Beach. We are so tremendously sorry for your loss. It’s important that you know that she guided us there to find her. She wanted to be found and to be reunited with you all. The ocean gave her a small window of time to be found and the unexpected circumstances of our day put us right there at the right moment. We feel a great deal of love for her, and for you all. To everyone who reads this, please respect your life and hang on to every special moment you have. Hug your children … hold them tight and keep them safe.
— Vernon and Dyanna
