EMT Falls To Death While Allegedly Taking Selfie

An EMT from Staten Island fell to her death while hiking in the Adirondacks over the weekend, according to the FDNY Women's Benevolent Association. A family member told the NY Post that Lieutenant JoAnn Restko, who worked out of FDNY-EMS Station 7 in Chelsea, was attempting to take a picture when she fell off a cliff near Lake George.

"I will miss my cousin," family member Lisa Reyes Rodgers wrote in a tribute on Facebook. "She had an adventurous spirit and enjoyed living life to the fullest."

The Essex County Coroner confirmed to NBC that Restko, 37, was hiking at Roaring Brook Falls in Keene, New York on Saturday, about four-and-a-half hours north of Manhattan. Her body was discovered between 80 and 100 feet below a ledge at the top of the falls. A website that details hiking routes in the Adirondacks warns that the falls' "towering rock walls" offer climbs "for the more adventurous and sure-footed."

Restko, an avid hiker, filled her Facebook with pictures from her trips. One posted this month shows Restko standing on an outcropping of rock at high elevation—in the comments section, one friend wrote that the height "makes me nervous for you."

Lenny Joyner, another paramedic posted at Restko's Chelsea station, passed away under similar circumstances in 2012. The 31-year-old was on a 14,000-foot summit near Aspen, Colorado that July when he fell 500 feet to his death.


Via: http://gothamist.com/2016/06/20/adirondacks_fall_emt.php

Star Trek Actor Killed By His Own Car

Actor Anton Yelchin, 27, who played Chekov in recent "Star Trek" movies, was killed in a freak accident early Sunday morning, police told CNN.

Yelchin, who also acted in "Like Crazy" and "Alpha Dog," died outside his home in Los Angeles, according to law enforcement.

Yelchin stepped out of his car in the driveway of his Studio City home at around 1:10 a.m. PT when the car slid backwards and pinned him against a brick pillar and a security fence, causing trauma that led to his death, said Jennifer Houser with the Los Angeles Police Department.

"The victim was on his way to meet his friends for a rehearsal and when he didn't show up, his friends went to his house where they found him deceased by his car," Houser told CNN. "It appears that he momentarily left his car, leaving it in the driveway. He was behind the vehicle when it rolled backward and pinned him to the brick pillar causing the trauma that led to his death."

Houser says Yelchin's family was notified by the friends that found him. She did not know whether the car was running when he was found.

Via: http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/19/entertainment/actor-anton-yelchin-killed/

Conductor dies after getting run over by train

Investigators say the conductor on the Royal Gorge route train who died Saturday afternoon fell off the rear of the train as it was backing up.

The train then ran her over, according to the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Two hundred passengers were on board at the time.

The conductor has been identified as 28-year-old Leslie Cacy of Canon City. She was killed about four miles away from the station, and had been standing at the door opening when she fell off.

No foul play is suspected in her death, the sheriff’s office said.

An autopsy is scheduled for next week.

Due to the apparent accident, the Royal Gorge Route Railroad announced Sunday it will not be running the train for the next few days. Anyone with reservations will be refunded or may reschedule.

“We are a family-run business, and our team members are like family to us,” the railroad wrote on Facebook. “Our hearts are broken.”


Via: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/05/29/royal-gorge-train-conductor-dies/85147330/

Woman Killed By Errant Umbrella on Virginia Beach

A 55-year-old Virginia woman was killed Wednesday after being struck by a wind-tossed beach umbrella at Virginia Beach, officials said.

Police responded to a call about 5 p.m. for a woman who was said to be in cardiac arrest near 33rd Street on the beach. When police arrived they found the woman was suffering from what was at the time described as a “life-threatening” injury. She later died in an area hospital, police said.

An initial investigation found that a “strong gust of wind blew” an umbrella across the beach and “struck her in the torso” according to Officer Tonya Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police department. Police said there is no evidence of foul play.

Police believe she was hit with the tip of the umbrella. The woman was later identified as Lottie Michelle Belk of Chester, Va.

“It was a horrific accident,” said Pierce. She said it was considered a “death due to nature.” Pierce said she had “never heard” of anything similar to this in her 25 years with the department.

Via: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/woman-56-killed-by-wind-driven-umbrella-at-virginia-beach/2016/06/09/9de2a770-2e3d-11e6-b5db-e9bc84a2c8e4_story.html?tid=hybrid_collaborative_2_na

Hospital worker dies from heart attack while watching porn

A hospital worker was found dead in The Bronx — with his laptop open and porn playing on it — after suffering a fatal heart attack while apparently masturbating, police sources said.

A colleague found the 48-year-old man on Tuesday morning at North Central Bronx Hospital.

He was naked and appeared to be pleasuring himself at the time of his death, the sources said.

Bronx Homicide was investigating, but said no foul play was suspected.

Via: http://nypost.com/2016/06/08/hospital-worker-dies-from-heart-attack-while-watching-porn/

Man Dies After Falling Into Yellowstone Hot Spring

Officials at Yellowstone National Park have confirmed that an Oregon man reported to have fallen in a hot spring Tuesday was killed, the park said Wednesday.

Colin Nathaniel Scott, 23, of Portland, slipped and fell in a hot spring near Porkchop Geyser Tuesday afternoon after he and his sister left the boardwalk in the Norris Geyser Basin, park officials said in a statement.

Rangers confirmed Scott's death Tuesday evening, the park said. An effort to retrieve his remains was called off Wednesday because there was nothing that could safely be recovered, park spokeswoman Charissa Reid said.

The sister, who saw the accident and reported it to authorities, was not injured, Reid said.

"We extend our sympathy to the Scott family," Park Superintendent Dan Wenk said in the statement. "This tragic event must remind all of us to follow the regulations and stay on boardwalks when visiting Yellowstone's geyser basins."

Tuesday's fatal accident occurred in an area known as the Back Basin. It was the first death related to thermal features in Norris Geyser Basin since 1898, Reid said.

There have been 22 known deaths related to thermal features in Yellowstone since 1890, she said.

Many of the hot springs in the Norris Geyser Basin are at or greater than 199 degrees, according to the park's website. The accident happened about 225 yards off the boardwalk, the park said.

Hazardous conditions in the area forced searchers to take extra precautions, including using experts to make sure the ground was safe, Reid said. Rock and mineral deposits in some places can be fairly thick but in other places can be just a thin sheet with hot water below, she said.

"It wasn't a very secure site," Reid said.

Visitors are prohibited from leaving designated paths at the park's thermal areas. Yellowstone says on its website that more people have died or been injured in the park's hot springs and thermal features than any other natural feature.

Reid expressed condolences to Scott's family, and urged visitors to stay on designated paths. "We have regulations in place for a reason — They're here to protect the features in the park ... they're also here to protect the people in the park," Reid said.

Earlier this week, a father and son suffered burn injuries after leaving the path in a thermal area in the Upper Geyser Basin, the park said.

Via: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/man-confirmed-dead-after-fall-yellowstone-hot-spring-n588556