FILE: The family of East Bay teen Jazmin Pellegrini is looking for answers as to why their daughter was found dead in San Francisco.
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East Bay teen Jazmin Pellegrini, 15, was found dead in San Francisco’s Oceanview neighborhood on Saturday, according to the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Jazmin’s family wants to know what led to her death.
“It is with a sad heart that I write these lines to inform you that my beloved daughter, who was so dear to all of us, has unfortunately passed away,” Pellegrini’s mother, Marta Barany, wrote in an April 21 social media post. “She was 15 years old and left a huge void in our hearts. … If you have any information on this matter, please share it with us.”
The medical examiner said it will take 21 to 90 days to determine the cause of death and complete the investigation, including a toxicology report. In the meantime, the family is looking for answers. They put up flyers in the Oceanview neighborhood around the Minnie & Love Ward Recreation Center, near where Jazmin was found, asking people with any information to get in touch.
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“We would like to know what happened to her,” Jazmin’s aunt, Ametiszt Hajdu, told SFGATE on the phone. “We would like to know how she got to San Francisco.”
The family of East Bay teen Jazmin Pellegrini is looking for answers as to why their daughter was found dead in San Francisco.
Amy Graff/SFGATE
Jazmin was released to her family from a psychiatric emergency unit at a county hospital in Martinez at 8 p.m. on April 17, according to Hajdu. The aunt said the family believed that Jazmin was not ready to come home, and they had hoped she would be transfered to a long-term care facility. Jazmin had bipolar disorder, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, the family wrote in a GoFundMe campaign.
After Jazmin returned to her Pittsburg home, she ran away at about 11 p.m. that night, according to Hajdu. Jazmin’s aunt said the family immediately contacted the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office for help locating Jazmin and to report her missing. She said the department failed to issue an official missing person report and provided little help in the search. The sheriff’s department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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“Her family had been fighting alongside to get her the treatment she needs, however their voice was powerless since the traditional route is medicating a child and not addressing the root problem,” Jazmin’s family said in the GoFundMe. “The system has failed her, as it has failed many others before, and will continue to fail until it is addressed and our voices are finally heard.”
The family “drove around searching and yelling for her” into the early hours of the next morning,