Leah Palmirotto, Atlanta, Georgia teen falls to her death from roof of abandoned hospital building used in Netflix’s Stranger Things. How fascination with an iconic TV landmark led to a 19-year-old girl losing her life.
Atlanta authorities are investigating the death of a 19-year-old woman who fell to her death from the roof of a vacant hospital building early Friday morning.
Leah Palmirotto, is believed to have been exploring the vacant structure with a group of others, when just before 1 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, the teen plunged to her death.
The group are suspected of having gained access to the restricted five-story building by climbing over a chain-link fence, entering the abandoned building at Emory University’s Briarcliff campus, located at 1256 Briarcliff Road.
How a teen’s fascination with a TV landmark led to her losing her life
The building in recent years had become a focal point of fascination as it had been used as a backdrop in Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ series.
In 2022, it was reported that the abandoned hospital would be torn down to make space for a senior living facility, only for the structure to remain intact, albeit cordoned off from the public.
In a statement, Emory said the victim isn’t affiliated with the university.
‘There are signs on the property advising people not to enter and warning them not to trespass,’ the university said. ‘Emory is enhancing security at the site.’
Officials added that Emory ‘vacated’ the building in 2024.
Fabled structure removed from Emory University website in aftermath of tragedy
The structure, known as Building A, was built in the 1960s as the Georgia Mental Health Institute psychiatric hospital before being bought by Emory University in the 1990s, according to WTOC11.
It has since been used as the Hawkins National Laboratory in Netflix’s Stranger Things, in addition to having featured in The Vampire Diaries.
Despite not being open to the public, the abandoned building is a popular location for urban explorers, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.
The building was listed among more than 40 buildings that the university rents out to filmmakers, only for the webpage to be taken down on Friday.
