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Eryn Van Acker was a dedicated special education resource specialist and a loving partner, family member, friend and colleague who relished spending time in nature and supporting other people.
That’s what I learned during my research and interviews in recent weeks, including with her father – hoping to tell more of the real story of the life and legacy of the late Danville resident and former Pleasanton teacher whose disappearance and death while walking along the American River made headlines just after New Year’s Day.
No shade to my peers in the Bay Area and Northern California because I know how breaking news can lead to helicopter coverage that skips over the human interest aspect of the story. It’s the world we live in. I’ve done the same thing, and I may do it again despite my best intentions.
Our team had an inkling in January that the “missing Bay Area hiker” actually lived in the Tri-Valley and had worked at least one year for the Pleasanton Unified School District, but we couldn’t get the confirmations we needed on the record to report it at the time. Still, I kept the lead on my list to check on – and the door opened when an online search last month led me to an obituary published in Illinois Weeklies.
“Eryn will be remembered for her giving spirit, her caring heart and her beautiful smile. She had a special way of connecting with others. She touched the lives of all who knew her, leaving behind a legacy of love, kindness and acceptance,” according to her obit, which listed her hometown as Danville, Calif.
After politely poking around social media, I connected with her sister-in-law and then got an unexpected phone call from her dad, Rick Van Acker, who was kind enough to share more about his beloved daughter and what happened in Placer County two months ago.
“She always was incredibly compassionate,” Rick told me in an interview days before what would’ve been Eryn’s 41st birthday.
She was drawn to special education just like her father, an accomplished teacher and professor in the field. Raised in Elgin, Ill., Eryn attended Warren Wilson College in North Carolina for undergrad, started teaching and then went back to school to earn a master’s degree and doctorate from University of Illinois Chicago.
While in Chicago, she met the man who would become her longtime partner Adam Rauchut. The couple relocated to the Tri-Valley about six years ago, starting in Livermore, then Pleasanton and then settling in Danville.
Eryn was most recently working remotely for a special education contractor based in Illinois, but during the 2022-23 academic year she was employed as an itinerant resource teacher for PUSD.
“I remember her to be really passionate, really supportive … always listening, problem solving, finding creative ways to support students with accommodations,” Christine Frazier, an occupational therapist for PUSD who worked with Eryn three years ago, told me on Tuesday.
Eryn floated around multiple Pleasanton school sites in her role, working both in classroom settings and with individual students and their families.
“She was a wonderful person to work with,” Frazier recalled. “It’s sad.”
Frazier saw the headlines coming out of Auburn at the beginning of the year. “At first I was like, ‘Oh no, it was someone from the Bay Area.’ And then when I saw the name, I was shocked. ‘Wait, I worked with Eryn in 2022-2023.’ … When the picture came out, I was like, ‘I know her. I knew her,'” Frazier said.
Eryn had spent part of December visiting family, while Adam stayed at home with the dogs, her father said. The couple spent Christmas together and then decided to take a short trip to the Auburn area for New Year’s.Â
They were preparing to go back home Jan. 2, with Adam not feeling well, and Eryn decided to take dog Vixen on a final hike before the drive. They passed a man panning for gold; 15 minutes later the man noticed Vixen wet and running on its own. The last picture on Eryn’s phone was the dog in a side pool, according to her father.
Rick said their best guess is the dog started to get washed away, Eryn went into the river to help but got caught in the current and ultimately drowned – but they’ve had to accept they’ll never really know what happened.
Rick and her family flew out right away after Adam called with the news she was missing and they all crammed into the same Airbnb the couple had rented. He credited the local and state search teams who spent three days doing everything they could to locate Eryn.
“Today’s operations include raft teams searching along both riverbanks, with drone operators being transported to strategic locations to conduct a comprehensive aerial search over the river, including overlapping coverage. Search and rescue K9s are working the shoreline and the Codfish Falls Trail,” authorities said in a Facebook post that weekend.
“Marine units are conducting ongoing sonar operations, upriver searches, and dive operations, with additional sonar and remotely operated vehicle (ROV) support being used as conditions allow. Searches are also being conducted in Upper Lake and downstream areas to ensure thorough coverage,” they added, describing the scope of the effort..
The Placer County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Jan. 5 that a body had been found in the North Fork of the American River and positively identified as Eryn’s. She was 40.Â
“It will never be known exactly why she went into the water, but no evidence of foul play or self harm,” Elise Soviar, communication manager at the sheriff’s office, told me last month. “It was a very tragic situation all around, our hearts really go out to her family and all of those who knew and loved her.”
Eryn is survived by her partner Adam, parents Nancy and Rick Van Acker, brother Victor Chad Van Acker, sister-in-law Mavy, nephews Sebastian and Nicolas and niece Daniela, according to her obituary.
“Much of Eryn’s greatest joy came from the time she spent with her family,” the obituary stated. “Professionally she was a remarkable educator, working with children displaying emotional, behavioral and mental-health disorders. She changed the lives of countless children through her passion and dedication. Eryn instilled in her students a belief that they could learn and succeed.”
A celebration of life is scheduled for March 14 at Moretti’s in her hometown of Elgin, Ill. Her father said a memorial service may follow in the Tri-Valley in April for those who knew Eryn here.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the associate publisher and editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.
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