VICTIM DEVOTED TO AIDING WOMEN

Biletnikoff had just begun to control her life, friends say

Tracey Biletnikoff left her last Burlingame drug-recovery meeting with high
spirits and hopes of continuing her work to help others.

Friends of the slain woman said she was a warm, caring woman who had tamed
a teen battle with addiction and was sharing a ``message of hope'' with
other women before she was strangled to death Monday at a rehabilitation
center in San Mateo.

``She was a breath of fresh air,'' said best friend Regan Steuer,
remembering the girl she grew up with in San Diego County. ``She had
something you wanted to capture and put in a bottle.''

But there was one thing Biletnikoff, 20, didn't see coming: The seemingly
sensitive, loving young man she'd been dating, Mohammed Haroon Ali, had
reportedly relapsed into his cocaine addiction, said Linda Carlson,
executive director of the Women's Recovery Association, where Biletnikoff
had completed treatment more than a year ago.

Ali, 23, is now accused of murdering Biletnikoff on Monday night after the
two argued at the Project 90 rehabilitation center in downtown San Mateo
where they worked as counselors. Biletnikoff's body was found at Can~ada
College in the Redwood City hills.

Suspect arraigned

Ali was arraigned Friday on a murder charge as former Oakland Raiders
football great Fred Biletnikoff, the victim's father, somberly looked on.
Ali is being held without bail in the San Mateo County Jail and faces life
in prison if convicted.

The killing, which a law enforcement source said Ali has confessed to, has
shocked many who knew the couple and deeply saddened those who saw
Biletnikoff just beginning to grab hold of life.

Biletnikoff came to the Bay Area in 1997, moving from her native Southern
California to be near her best friend and her father -- who was divorced
from Tracey's mother. Her teenage years had not always been easy, but those
who knew her said she was winning her battles lately.

She had taken classes at the College of San Mateo. She had become a mentor
to other young women overcoming drug and alcohol abuse, taking them on
camping and dancing trips. And she was thinking about becoming a teacher.

``She was a very, very sweet, playful, angelic woman . . . a very bright
light around here,'' Carlson said. ``I think that's why it's been so
devastating for us.''

Steuer and Biletnikoff were planning a cross-country bicycle trip this
summer, and the two friends wanted to travel together in Europe next year
after Steuer finished her studies at the University of San Francisco.

``She finally had goals again,'' said Steuer, who has known Biletnikoff
since the two were in third grade together. ``She'd come so far. It's so
hard to lose someone at a time like that.'' Steuer and Biletnikoff
graduated together in 1996 from San DieGuito High School in Encinitas.

Friendship, then romance

Steuer said Biletnikoff and Ali met in the drug rehabilitation community
around San Mateo. ``They were buddies,'' Steuer said, explaining how a
friendship born of common experiences grew into a romance.

They always seemed to enjoy each other's company, Steuer said. They liked
to do things together and frequently went to parties like the one at the
community center where they quarreled Monday night. ``They found a niche
there,'' Steuer said.

Steuer said her friend knew of Ali's history of drug problems, but accepted
him despite them.

Biletnikoff was the kind of person who believed that people deserved a
second chance, Steuer said. She used to talk proudly of Ali's progress
through rehabilitation. ``Tracey had learned not to judge others,'' Steuer
said. ``She could see past people's downfalls.''

But friends said they didn't think Biletnikoff knew that Ali had been
convicted in 1995 of kidnapping and beating a girlfriend who rejected his
marriage proposals. If Biletnikoff had known, Steuer said, she never would
have dated Ali.

``She was too smart to risk everything she had accomplished for that.''

Incomprehensible

Today, Steuer is like many who are still struggling to understand what
appears to be a senseless tragedy. The distraught Biletnikoff family is not
speaking publicly about the killing and has requested privacy.

Said Steuer: ``How could anyone who got to know Tracey ever do anything to
hurt her?''

``It's so frustrating. They gave the wrong guy a second chance. . . . But
how do you know? I guess the only thing that's certain in life is that
there are no certainties. I think Tracey knew that better than anyone.''