Arkansas Canoe Club Forums

OZARK, Ark. -- Two people are dead and a third person was seriously injured after falling from a bluff near the Mulberry River.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department said they received a call around 1 a.m., Sunday from a guy reporting that his friends had fallen off a cliff.

Dep. Steve Scott said a group of students from the University of Arkansas were at a private residence for a weekend retreat off Oak Ridge Road in Franklin County, not far from Campbell Cemetery, when 20-year-old Laura Echols from Fort Smith got too close to a bluff and fell 50- feet to her death.

Scott said 20-year-old Trenton Faith II from Cypress, Texas, saw Echols fall and tried to help when he too fell off the bluff to his death.

Scott said a second male Cameron Cooper realized his friends had fallen and also tried to help when he fell off the bluff. Cooper broke his pelvis, shoulder and arm.

Franklin County’s search and rescue team along with Arkansas Game and Fish wardens and the Barnes Fire Department assisted in the rescue operation.

Scott said rescue crews repelled down the bluff to attempt rescues, but ended up putting rescue boats on the Mulberry River to reach the victims.

Around 5:30 a.m., Cooper was rescued and was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Scott said he has since been taken to Texas to be with his family.

Scott said Echols and Faith’s bodies were taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for autopsies.

Scott said all of the students’ parents have been notified. He said at this point there are no criminal aspects to his department’s investigation.