Student slid down a run-off and fell off cliff

The death of a Brehm Preparatory School student who fell to her death while hiking at Little Grand Canyon was ruled an accident by a coroner’s jury Thursday.

Ashley Sweeney, 16, from Colorado, was on a school sponsored and supervised field trip when she fell from a 65-foot bluff April 28.

Advertisement

Thomas W. Kupferer, Jackson County coroner, said that a group of Brehm students and a counselor were hiking at Little Grand Canyon south of Murphysboro when they left the marked trail to hike through the woods.

Kupferer said Sweeney stepped into a rain washout that was covered with moss and leaves, slippery from rain the night before and in previous days. Sweeney slipped and slid down the run-off and out of sight of the group. Members of the group told deputies they thought she had only slid about 10 to 15 feet, but when they looked further down the slope they could not find her. The counselor then sent the others back to get help and he went to look for Sweeney.

The Jackson County Sheriff’s office received a call from a cell phone at 2:32 p.m. reporting that a girl had fallen from a bluff and dispatched deputies to the scene. When the deputies arrived, they contacted local resident Charlie Mason, who was familiar with the area. Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputy David W. Jacquot said rescuers entered the woods at 2:49 p.m. using old fire service roads in their attempt to reach Sweeney.

Kupferer said that after the counselor sent the others for help, he had to walk 200 to 300 yards to find a way down the steep bluff. When the counselor found Sweeney she was still breathing. He attempted CPR, but her breathing slowed and she died at 2:52 p.m.

The rescuers, hampered by the thick forest and rough terrain, were not able to reach Sweeney until 3:30 p.m. at which time they contacted the Jackson County Coroner’s Office.

Kupferer and Deputy Coroner Dr. Steve Zang arrived at 4:55 p.m. and the investigation was turned over them.

Kupferer said Sweeney died of multiple injuries resulting from the fall.

Advertisement*

The counselor was in a state of shock, Kupferer said, and had to be assisted out of the woods.

A coroner’s inquest is a fact-finding proceeding to determine the cause and manner of a death and has no civil or criminal trial significance. A six-member jury is presented evidence and issues a verdict as to the whether a death was a suicide, homicide or an accident either natural or undetermined.