Gabriella Smith University of Kentucky student hiking along Red River Gorge falls 150ft to her death while taking selfies and photos. Cliff ground gave away.
Seduced by the beauty around her before unwittingly falling to her death …
A 24-year-old University of Kentucky medical student has died after falling 150 ft to her death while hiking along the Red River Gorge on Monday.
Gabriella ‘Gabby’ Smith a second-year medical student who was reported missing by her family Tuesday morning, was found later that afternoon in the Auxier Ridge area of the Red River Gorge, the Lexington Herald Ledger reported.
Rescue workers were able to locate Smith of Alexandria, using GPS coordinates obtained by pinging her phone and watch, authorities said. The search for the medical student came after her parents lost contact with their daughter who had gone to the gorge the previous day, only to seemingly disappear.
The missing hiker was found dead at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff Tuesday afternoon, according to Powell County Search and Rescue.
‘We did not get the results that we wanted,’
‘We did not get the results that we wanted,’ the rescue group said on its Facebook page.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends during this difficult time.’
Authorities believe the UK student got too close to the edge of the cliff and fell, Powell County Search and Rescue spokeswoman Lt. Lisa Johnson told WDRB-TV.
It was the second fall crews responded to at the gorge in 24 hours, Johnson said. A man fell Monday night from a nearby cliff and was taken to the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington.
Selfie stick
Johnson urged hikers to not get too close to cliff edges because they can give way when the ground is wet and can crumble when the ground is dry.
Johnson says Smith who had gone hiking alone at the gorge on Monday in an effort to break in a new pair of hiking boots and get in shape for a future hiking trip with friends.
Johnson says Smith had a selfie stick and her last pictures were not of her, but of the scenery at the gorge. The search and rescue group believes she just got too close to the edge taking pictures and fell. Prior to falling to her death, the second year medical student had been texting images of the breath taking scenery, scenery which in the end may have proved too intoxicating…
