A woman’s fall at Royal Gorge at the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park in southern Colorado has been ruled a freak accident and not a suicide. The skid marks left behind by 45-year-old Denise McLean of Wylie, Texas, indicate that she tried to avoid her fatal 400-foot fall, but it was too late.
Woman fall Royal Gorge: 45-year-old Texas woman slips, falls 400 ft to her death
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As reported by 11 News on July 2, according to the Fremont County coroner, the Texas woman was apparently standing on rocks next to the Royal Gorge canyon when she “either fell or slipped.” The freak incident has been ruled an accident. Initial reports of a potential suicide have been ruled out due to the woman’s shoe prints left behind at the top of the cliff.

“Coroner Randy Keller said Denise McLean, 45, of Wylie, Texas, died in an accidental incident. She was standing on some rocks next to the gorge and either fell or slipped, Keller said.”

The 45-year-old Texas woman was reported missing on Monday night. The last location anyone had seen her was at the observation point on the north side of Royal Gorge. After receiving reports of a missing person, officers searched the area but had to suspend their pursuit due to the diminishing daylight and the treacherous terrain.

On Tuesday morning, the search for the missing woman who fell at Royal Gorge resumed. Officers discovered the woman’s body 400 feet on the cliff face below the observation point near the north entrance parking area. “Early on Tuesday, the Fremont County Search and Rescue Team located the woman’s body on a cliff face, 400 feet below the observation deck,” police said.