Update, Nov. 10, 1:48 p.m.: This story has been updated to include information from a press release sent by James Wheal, assistant chief at Ithaca Fire Department.
Local emergency response teams recovered a dead body from Fall Creek Gorge on Sunday.
Ithaca Fire Department officers were called to the gorge at 10:30 a.m. for a person in the water, according to an IFD press release. Around noon, an Ithaca Police Department officer taped off the end of Willard Way, where responders actively worked, rappelling down the steep slope with a stretcher. The response team began pulling up the bagged body at 12:34 p.m. The recovery took approximately three hours.
IPD is currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the individual’s death. No other information is immediately available.
Earlier Sunday morning, a woman was found unresponsive after falling into Fall Creek Gorge before being airlifted to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, according to an IFD spokesperson. Her current condition remains unclear.
These incidents are unrelated, according to the press release.
Also on Sunday, IFD was called to the Giles Street pedestrian bridge at around 10:50 a.m. after an individual believed they witnessed a person jumping into the gorge. After a thorough search of the area, no victims were located.
Eric Reilly is a graduating senior from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He served as the Assistant Managing Editor on The Sun’s 142nd Masthead and News Editor on the 141st Masthead. He can be reached at ereilly@cornellsun.com.
