Rescue crew spotted footprints in the the snow leading into a wooded area of Fall Creek Falls State Park
During a winter storm that brought snow and ice to Tennessee state parks, a man was discovered inexplicably dead at the base of a 700-foot bluff.
Following a complaint of a lost person, responders from the Piney Volunteer Fire Department and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office were sent to Fall Creek Falls State Park on Tuesday, according to WSMV, a local news source.
When emergency personnel got to the area, they saw footprints in the snow close to the park’s north gate that led into the woods. The trails took search crews to a cliff line with a view of the Cane Creek Gorge.
According to WSMV, a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter unit was dispatched and flew over the gorge to carry out a search.
Following their journey of about 700 feet to the missing person’s position, the search team discovered the man, whose body was transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
Michael Brock, the sheriff for Van Buren County, informed the local news station that the individual was already deceased when he was discovered. Why he was there in such bad weather, or how he got to the foot of the cliff, was a mystery.
Following a significant snowstorm earlier this week, there have been 14 weather-related fatalities in Tennessee. This death is one of them.
While performing the search in the bitter cold, one member of the rescue group suffered minor hypothermia and was sent to a nearby hospital.
