(WHDH) — A 20-year-old college student plummeted 150 feet to her death after she fell off a cliff while hiking with classmates on Monday night, officials said.
Officers responding to a report of a woman who had fallen near caves in Hasbrouck Park in Kington, New York, encountered a group of SUNY New Paltz students that had been hiking in the area, according to the Kingston Police Department.
One of the members of the group, Katherine Vollmer, slipped and fell off of a cliff at the top of Hasbrouck Park, the Daily Freeman reported.
Police say Vollmer had been part of an unsanctioned hiking group that was exploring the old cement caves and trails. During the hike, the group became lost and found themselves at the edge of a cliff.
As the group was walking along the edge to return to their vehicles, Vollmer slipped and plummeted 150 feet into an area that was only accessible by an experienced rope team, police said.
Due to a lack of light and poor weather conditions, crews were not able to get to Vollmer until Tuesday.
Volmer suffered severe trauma from the fall and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Kingston Fire Chief Mark Brown told the Daily Freeman that muddy and rocky conditions made the retrieval of Vollmer’s body “one of the toughest recoveries” he had ever been a part of.
“My heart is broken and it is sad for me to say,” Susan Vollmer said in a Facebook post. “My beautiful niece Katherine Vollmer past in a tragic accident while at College.”
An investigation is ongoing.
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