By Linda Taaffe

Los Altos Hills

A memorial for the 22-year-old bicyclist who disappeared from Los Altos Hills last month is scheduled for 7 p.m., today at Stanford University.

A bird watcher at Foothills Park in Palo Alto discovered the body of Christina “Minna” Sandmeyer hanging from a tree last Friday. Her journal and bicycle were nearby.

Palo Alto police said Sandmeyer’s death was an apparent suicide.

Sandmeyer was last seen July 13 at Hidden Villa Farm in Los Altos Hills, where she was staying with a friend while on summer break from Stanford University. The engineering student left a note saying she was going on an overnight bike ride toward the coast.

When she did not return, hundreds of volunteers began searching for Sandmeyer on trails throughout Los Altos Hills and the Bay Area.

Police said Sandmeyer had been “somewhat despondent” and had spoken of suicide, according to friends.

Sandmeyer’s parents posted a $50,000 reward for information leading to her return just hours before her body was discovered.

In a press release, Sandmeyer’s family thanked the community “for their incredible outpouring of help and prayers. Our hearts have been touched by acts of generosity and support large and small.

“Minna was devoted to the community, and this search has shown all of us what community can be, something precious and sacred, and something not to be taken for granted. We have been astonished at the power released by the gathering of people in this community.”

Sandmeyer would have been a senior at Stanford University next year, and the resident assistant at the Chi Theta Chi co-op. She was an active member of several student groups, including RATS (Redwood Action Team at Stanford), Stanford Chamber Chorale, and the Stanford Farm.

Sandmeyer supported sustainable agriculture, green building, social and environmental justice, protection of the Redwood forests of Northern California and a car-free, bicycle-dominated world, according to friends.

A small group of Sandmeyer’s friends has agreed to meet in late August to work on a specific project that would reflect the values that she embraced .

The meeting place for Sandmeyer’s memorial was not confirmed by our press deadline. For more information, go to www.findminna.org or call 245-7547.