UPDATE: The woman has been identified as 25-year-old Anna Bachman.
By Rosemary Regina Sobol / Chicago Tribune /.January 13, 2014
A 25-year-old Chicago woman lost her balance and fell from a cliff while taking pictures in San Diego Sunday and died instantly, authorities reported.
The victim was with her sister, taking pictures on a cliffside bluff at sunset, when she lost her footing and plunged 100-150 feet onto massive sandstone rocks below, San Diego Police Officer Edward Zwibel said.
“She was tragically posing for a picture when she backed up too far and lost her balance and fell down the cliff,” said Zwibel.
He said the woman, who has not yet been officially identified, is 25 years old and is from Chicago. Her sister is from the San Diego area.
“It certainly is a sad scenario,” Zwibel said.
[Editor: Police, firefighters and lifeguards responded to a cliff rescue on Ladera Street and Sunset Cliffs Boulevard around 5:30 p.m. – see 7San Diego]
Police received 911 calls at 5:19 p.m. about a female who had fallen down the cliff onto the rocks below. Police, fire rescue units, and the lifeguard unit responded to the scene known as Sunset Cliffs, Zwibel said.
“There were a number of people around”’ who saw the incident and tried to help her, including someone who tried CPR, but she was dead on the scene, according to Zwibel. “She was then hoisted by the rescue personnel a short time later,” Zwibel said.
Chain-link fences and cement blocks are erected, but visitors “can still get to the edge” if they really want to, he said.
“It’s a beautiful place and there’s lots of cliffside sunsets right here and it was right around that time of day as well.”
Zwibel said there have been falls at that location before.
“We’ve had other incidents where potential suicidal persons or vehicles driving over the cliff because it’s literally miles of sandstone bluff,”’ he said.
Multiple signs are also posted that read: “Beware of cliffs,” “Warning” and “Unstable cliffs,” the officer said.
“There’s a lot of signage but people still want to get that photo.”
San Diego Fire Rescue spokesman Maurice Luque said he was notified of the incident about 5:40 p.m. Sunday night at 700 Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, near Ladera Street.
Authorities recovered the woman’s body on the cliffs after she fell, Luque said. She was not taken to a hospital and died on the scene, he said.
“If the tide was high, she would have fallen in the water,” Luque said, adding that he did not know if it was high or low.
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