The fifth episode of A&E’s Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life explores the tragic deaths of Kristin High and Kenitha Saafir, two students who drowned off the coast of Los Angeles in 2002. The episode, titled “Drowning in Secrets,” examines the circumstances surrounding their deaths and the subsequent investigation.
On September 9, 2002, 22-year-old Kristin High and 24-year-old Kenitha Saafir, pledging the Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) Sorority, drowned at Dockweiler State Beach near Playa del Rey. The women were fully clothed, and their families suspected that a hazing ritual may have led to their deaths. This suspicion was fueled by the fact that the sorority’s chapter at Cal State LA, where the women attended, had been suspended for hazing, making the pledging process unsanctioned.
A $100 million wrongful death lawsuit was filed against the sorority, alleging that the women were blindfolded, tied together, and led into the ocean, where they drowned in rip tide conditions. However, the Los Angeles Police Department initially ruled that the deaths were accidental and unrelated to sorority pledging.
The families of High and Saafir disputed this conclusion, with High’s family conducting their private investigation, which they believe paints a different picture of the events leading to the tragic incident.
Houses of Horror: Secrets of College Greek Life—Drowning in Secrets airs Monday, August 26, 2024, at 9:00 p.m. on A&E.
