RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – Neighbors remember the Angie Lin who liked to jump rope, double Dutch style, with other children on Via Zapador.

One recalled the sound of her piano playing emanating from her home.

Others knew her as the bright young girl who swooshed through the neighborhood on her bicycle.

They never imagined that she'd take her own life.

Authorities say that Lin, 26, jumped off a Rancho Santa Margarita Parkway bridge Wednesday afternoon, falling 85 feet into O'Neill Regional Park.

"It's a very sad story," her parents said Thursday.

The couple, who didn't want to give their names, said they don't know what she was doing on the bridge.

Just before noon Wednesday, a passer-by called police after seeing Lin pacing about the bridge, Orange County sheriff's Sgt. Chuck Wilmot said.

A deputy responded to the call but didn't find Lin.

About an hour later, another passer-by called to report a woman on the bridge who was "maybe contemplating to jump off," a dispatch log said.

A deputy responded and talked to Lin for more than 15 minutes, asking her whether she was going to jump.

The deputy said Lin appeared calm and clear-headed. She told him that she was "just admiring nature," Wilmot said.

The deputy asked whether she wanted a ride home, but she refused the offer. He left after watching her get on her bicycle and pedal away.

Sometime between 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., authorities said, Lin plunged off the bridge and into a tree-filled area. A bicyclist on the bridge reported seeing her crumpled body.

She was taken to Mission Hospital, where she died of multiple injuries at 1:30 a.m. Thursday.

Neighbors who saw Lin grow up said she was a sweet girl.

She was an only child with a lot of friends.

"She looked like a smart, pretty girl," next-door neighbor Rey Alonzo said.

But she changed, he said, becoming quiet as she grew older.

"Something happened in her life. She wasn't the same," neighbor Colleen Zeitler said.

Lin lived with her parents and spent time in the garage, making arts and crafts.

She was majoring in architecture at a college, Alonzo said.

Thursday, an open garage door revealed spray cans and butcher paper with golden designs draping the floor.

Neighbor Mickie Kim said she remembers Lin standing outside her home recently in a long, black, lacy dress and staring into space.

"She seemed really lost," Kim said.