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As friends and loved ones continue mourning the loss of Victoria Castle, a Babylon yoga studio owner has created an online memorial designed to ensure the 25-year-old scientist-in-training is remembered for the life she lived — not the tragedy that ended it.
Robin Appel, owner and instructor at a Babylon yoga studio and a close friend of Castle’s family, recently launched The Living Legacy of Vic, a website dedicated to preserving Castle’s memory through photographs, personal stories, acts of kindness and a memorial scholarship supporting future geoscience students.
Appel said she spent recent days building the site while grappling with the shock of the homicide death of the Stony Brook University doctoral student, who police say was murdered June 29 inside her North Massapequa home.
“For the last week, I poured my energy into creating a living tribute to Victoria ‘Vic’ Castle,” Appel wrote in a Facebook post announcing the project. “I needed there to be a place that belonged only to Vic — a place where her beauty, brilliance, kindness, resilience, passion, fearlessness, and adventurous spirit could shine, free from that darkness.”
The website invites family members, friends, classmates, colleagues and others whose lives Castle touched to share memories, photographs and messages of hope while learning about her life, scientific pursuits and enduring impact.
“The Living Legacy of Vic was created to honor and preserve the life of Victoria ‘Vic’ Castle — a remarkable young woman whose kindness, curiosity, courage and adventurous spirit touched everyone fortunate enough to know her,” the site’s homepage reads.
Among the site’s featured initiatives is The Wildflower Project. It encourages people to plant wildflower seeds in Castle’s honor. Participants are invited to photograph their gardens as they bloom, creating what organizers hope will become a growing collection of living tributes to Castle.
“Wildflowers are resilient,” the website explains. “They take root in unexpected places, nourish pollinators, brighten landscapes, and quietly make the world a little more beautiful — much like Vic did throughout her life.”
Helping others pursue greatness and transform the world
The website also highlights the newly established Victoria Castle Memorial Scholarship, which will support students in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook University, where Castle was pursuing doctoral research — and traveling the world in the process.
Castle graduated from Stony Brook in 2024 with a bachelor’s degree in geology and was preparing to submit a research proposal to NASA exploring a new method for dating sediment on the surface of Mars, her family said.
Faculty members and colleagues believed Castle possessed exceptional promise as a scientist, while those closest to her remember someone whose compassion matched her intellect.
Nassau County prosecutors allege Castle was killed at home by her brother-in-law, Joseph Horner, a 27-year-old Oceanside schools music teacher who lived in the upstairs apartment of the two-family home with Castle’s sister Alexia, a music teacher in Levittown schools. Horner has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and remains held without bail as the case proceeds through the courts.
Beyond the tragic headlines and courtroom proceedings was the life Castle built with infectious enthusiasm and boundless curiosity.
Through her Instagram account, she documented adventures that took her from fossil digs in Alabama and research trips to Brazil to presentations at Oxford University and hikes through some of the country’s most breathtaking landscapes. She proudly described herself as a “professional rock lover” and an “elder emo,” embraced elaborate cosplay at New York Comic Con, celebrated Pride, skydived, gardened and reveled in the natural world.
Her feed, filled with science, travel, music and laughter, reflected a vibrant young woman squeezing as much as she could out of life.
A bright light with a gift for making all feel welcome
Castle’s stepmother Athi Francis on Instagram this week expressed a message of heartfelt thanks for the support Castle’s family has received from the community. Her message is below:
Castle’s obituary describes a young woman who “loved everyone and judged no one,” adding that she had a gift for making people feel welcomed and accepted regardless of their background or beliefs.
A lifelong vegetarian, Castle also enjoyed gardening, birdwatching, making music and caring for her cats, Basil and Cinnamon. She is survived by her parents, Maria Reinken and Andrew Castle; stepparents Ronald Reinken and Athi Francis; her sister, Alexia Castle; and her grandparents Andrew Castle, Vicenza Castle, Diogenes Stefanou and Athanasia Stefanou.
Appel said she hopes the website becomes a place of healing while allowing Castle’s spirit to continue inspiring others.
“If you knew Vic, I hope you’ll visit the website and plant another seed in her garden by sharing a memory or sending a favorite photograph,” Appel wrote. “If you didn’t, I hope you leave a message of hope, kindness, or encouragement. Every contribution helps her light continue to ripple outward into the world.”
The homepage concludes: “Together, these pages celebrate not only who Vic was, but the values she embodied and the lives she continues to inspire.”
Keeping Vic’s story alive
Appel shared news about the website on Facebook.
Top: Victoria Castle (The Living Legacy of Vic photos).
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