UCSB staffer killed in altercation in Isla Vista

November 17, 2020

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

A University of California Santa Barbara staffer was found dead on a beach in Isla Vista Thursday evening following a reported altercation in the area.

Geoff Jewel, 52, was a computing services help desk manager for the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, according to the UCSB website. Authorities found Jewel’s body lying near bluffs at Campus Point.

Investigators are calling Jewel’s death suspicious. UCSB campus police logs show a person reported an incident of battery at Campus Point at 5:14 p.m. on Thursday.

Later Thursday evening, the university issued an emergency alert stating an assault with a deadly weapon, which was not a firearm, occurred at Campus Point at the same time.

Initially, campus police described the suspect as a white man in his early 40s who was 6 feet tall with ashen-brown hair, a short beard and medium build. He was wearing a dark blue hoodie and blue jeans and was carrying a brown guitar.

Officials are withholding further details about the case. An investigation is ongoing.