Summary based on the NamUs case record (MP151334)
Nineteen-year-old Noel Annette Marcotte was a high school senior from the San Francisco Bay Area, remembered as a sweet and cheerful young woman who made people around her smile when she was not studying hard at school. She loved horses and had spent years riding and competing, winning hundreds of ribbons and trophies that testified to her dedication and talent. Official records describe her as a white female, 5 feet 4 inches tall and about 110 pounds, with brown hair, brown eyes, pierced ears, and two scars: one four-inch scar on the back of her head and another one-inch scar at the nape of her neck. She was the youngest of five children and a senior at Monte Vista High School at the time she disappeared, the baby of a close-knit family that would later speak of the enormous hole her absence left in their lives.
On the night of March 24, 1990, Noel joined about fourteen friends for an outing to the Cliff House and Sutro Baths area of San Francisco, a dramatic stretch of coastline near Point Lobos Avenue where the Pacific surf crashes against steep rocks below. The group chose to go at night, looking for a sense of freedom and adventure away from the watchful eyes of parents and other adults. It was the kind of excursion many teenagers make without imagining that anything could go terribly wrong. Sometime around 10:15 p.m., Noel and her friends were gathered near the water, climbing and sitting on rocky outcroppings that offered a view out over the dark ocean and the lights along the shoreline.
According to witness accounts, Noel was sitting on one of the outer rocks near Point Lobos Avenue when she noticed that one of her shoelaces had come undone. As she reached down to adjust it, she apparently lost her footing on the uneven, slippery surface. She slipped, fell from the rock face, and struck her head on the way down before hitting the cold Pacific Ocean below. Her friends watched in horror as she fell; several of the male members of the group immediately scrambled down toward the water and jumped in, trying to fight through the pounding surf and sharp rocks to reach her. One young man later recalled that he was “getting beat up on the rocks” and simply could not get to her, a heartbreaking acknowledgment of how powerless they were in the face of the sea and the terrain.
While some of the teenagers battled the waves, others ran for help and called authorities. The United States Park Police and the Coast Guard responded, launching boats and beginning a search under extremely difficult conditions. Those on scene believed Noel had likely been knocked unconscious by the impact with the rocks and the water, leaving her unable to swim or keep herself afloat. Her friends reported that, by the time they reached the shoreline below, her body had already been carried outward by the strong, frigid currents. The ocean off Sutro Baths is known for cold temperatures and dangerous surf, and investigators would later note that a person in those waters would not have been able to survive long, especially if injured and unconscious.
In the hours and days that followed, a large-scale search effort took shape. The Coast Guard scoured the water by boat, while search-and-rescue teams and volunteers canvassed the shoreline and cliffs. Noel’s family organized a group of more than thirty people to join the official efforts, and community members came forward to help. Searchers used walkie-talkies, binoculars, telephones, boats, helicopters, and even hang gliders to watch the coastline from above, hoping for any sign of Noel. Day and night, people combed the rocks and surf, clinging to the hope that her body would surface or be found along the shore. Despite the intensity and breadth of these efforts, nothing connected to Noel was ever recovered; her father later remarked that not even her clothing had been found. As March drew to a close, authorities formally suspended the search with no trace of her located.
Because no remains were recovered, Noel’s case is formally listed as a missing person, but the prevailing conclusion among investigators is that she drowned and was carried out to sea by the powerful currents that night. Official records note her as a lost or injured missing person, with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Police as the investigating agency under case number 90-1879. She was last seen wearing a white blouse with black trim, a black leather jacket, black jeans, white shoes, and a silver-colored ring featuring a dolphin wrapped head-to-tail, all of which vanished along with her. Records also mention three piercings in her right ear and confirm that dental X-rays are available, underscoring that authorities remain prepared to identify her if remains are ever found.
For Noel’s family, the loss did not end with the suspension of the search. Years later, her father’s obituary would quietly note that his youngest daughter Noel died tragically in 1990, Last Seen: Mar 24, 1990
