By David R. Kazak

After jumping from the fourth floor of an SIUC residence hall early Monday morning, an Indiana woman is reported to be in serious condition.

SIU Police said Heather Birck, 18, of New Albany, Ind., was visiting an SIUC student living in Boomer I, located in University Park, when she jumped from the fourth floor lounge shortly after 4:30 a.m.

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Birck was taken to Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, then transferred to St. Francis Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo., where hospital spokeswoman, Melenie Meyers, said the woman is in intensive care.

SIU police sergeant Steve Ellis, said there was no indication of alcohol or drug abuse at the time of the accident. No cause for Birck’s jump was given in police reports.

Ellis said the usual procedure in cases similar to this one is for county psychiatrists to examine the person involved in such an accident.

Because of Birck’s condition after the incident, Ellis said there was no report on her state of mind at the time she jumped.