{"id":416077,"date":"2026-07-29T03:04:41","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T03:04:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416077\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T03:04:41","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T03:04:41","slug":"anchorages-bryn-waite-remembered-by-sister-as-biggest-cheerleader-after-death-in-san-diego","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/416077\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchorage\u2019s Bryn Waite remembered by sister as \u2018biggest cheerleader\u2019 after death in San Diego"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Family and friends are mourning 26-year-old Bryn Waite, a former Service High School athlete from Anchorage whose body was found offshore<\/a> near San Diego\u2019s La Jolla Shores Beach last week.<\/p>\n

Authorities have identified Waite as the woman spotted floating in the water Wednesday morning off La Jolla Shores Beach. Lifeguards brought her to shore, where she was pronounced dead shortly after 9:30 a.m., according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner\u2019s Office. The cause of death was pending postmortem examination results.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Alaska\u2019s News Source, Waite\u2019s sister, Aislinn Waite, described a bond she said was built through years of shared sports and friendship circles in Anchorage.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom describes us as two sisters who could never be apart as much as we wanted to rip each other\u2019s heads off sometimes,\u201d Aislinn Waite said. \u201cWe always just gravitated towards each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AislinnAislinn Waite (center), Bryn Waite (right).(Aislinn Waite)<\/p>\n

Both sisters were known for their athletic careers. Aislinn Waite played soccer at Southern Oregon University, while Bryn played at Central Washington University. <\/p>\n

At Service High School, they competed together in soccer and cross-country. Aislinn said she remembered her younger sister as a relentless and determined competitor on the soccer field.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was an amazing athlete, and she was fierce and she was winning that ball every time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked what she remembered most about her sister as a player, Aislinn Waite pointed to Bryn\u2019s work ethic and defensive style.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was such a hard worker,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was an amazing defender. She didn\u2019t let anyone past her.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that Bryn Waite\u2019s game also included pushing forward on offense. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe also loved to get up in the attack,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was not afraid to get up and cross the ball so we could score a goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond athletics, Aislinn Waite said her sister pursued art and valued community, describing her as someone drawn to helping others.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loved animals,\u201d she said. \u201cShe liked working with kids. Like she worked as like a camp counselor. <\/p>\n

\"AislinnAislinn Waite (left), mom Theresa (middle), Bryn Waite (right).(Aislinn Waite)<\/p>\n

\u201cShe really valued community as well, just being around people and being a part of the community\u201d <\/p>\n

Aislinn Waite said the outpouring of support after her sister\u2019s death has been overwhelming, including messages from people close to Bryn in San Diego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had people reach out from San Diego who I\u2019ve never met who are just reaching out saying how much it meant to them, just meeting her two months ago, three months ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When asked what she believes her sister would want people to remember most, Aislinn Waite said the answer comes back to her heart and the way she treated people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I would just want people to remember her heart and how much she truly cared and loved this world,\u201d she said. \u201cBryn was the type of person \u2026 she just spread that wherever she went.”<\/p>\n

\"AislinnAislinn Waite (left), dad Brian (middle), Bryn Waite (right).(Brian Waite)<\/p>\n

She said even in grief, she still feels that same support from her sister.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say Brynn is like my biggest cheerleader in life, and I think she will continue to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Aislinn Waite said the family has also shared a Meal Train link<\/a> for people who want to support them, describing it as a way for people to sign up to provide meals or donate. She said her sister had longer-term goals centered around helping others, including art therapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was really passionate about going into art therapy because she\u2019s an artist,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter finishing that, to open a sanctuary for people who are going through hard stuff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The family is also planning a celebration of life next month, Aislinn Waite said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Family and friends are mourning 26-year-old Bryn Waite, a former Service High School athlete…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[152248,166446,4162,152241,113119,152242,164666,166447,152243,100,74,76,75],"class_list":["post-416077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-ak","tag-alaksa-news","tag-alaska","tag-alaska-news","tag-alaska-news-source","tag-anchorage-news","tag-bryn-waite","tag-family-remembers","tag-ktuu","tag-news","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}