Suicides in Twin Falls

[K]

Hi All-

I got a call from Don Mayes about a few incidents that have occurred in Twin Falls. We're all yelling at each other about burning sites, and then this happens:

On Thanksgiving day a young couple, 18 and 20 years old, drove 150 miles from their town near Boise to the Perrine and they both jumped to their deaths. One went first, then the other followed.

Just over a week later a 50 year old woman from the same town drove to Twin Falls and jumped off the bridge. Three suicides in 8 days from our sweetheart.

Both Don and Jamie have said they'll call me with any more news.

I wonder if there is something horribly wrong in their town? I hope the families of these people are doing o.k. I pray this doesn't affect our status at the bridge.

Peace and perspective,
K#763

[Yuri]

Yo !

When we showed up at a bridge in South Africa there was a police car parked in the middle. They were taking care of a suicide. While giving us a ride back after the jump they informed us that being the closest bridge to a large populated area its suicide count is approaching a hundred. This was absolutely routine, while jumpers that survived by deploying a parachute provided somewhat of an excitement.

Last time i read an article about a suicide off Empire State Building it also mentioned a count of almost a hundred over the years.

bsbd!

Yuri.

[K]

Thanks Yuri, that was interesting. It sounds like South Africa is quite a bit better acclimated to jumping, especially the kind with a parachute. How nice would it be to get a ride back to your car from a police office after a BASE jump???? It's unfortunate that most Americans are so uptight they can't handle the ways some people enjoy themselves. But because we are generally so uptight, I can imagine some law-makers in Idaho trying to use these suicides as a rationale for stopping BASE from the bridge. I know that would make no sense, but making sense would be asking too much in many cases, i.e. the NPS.

Can't we all just get along?
:P

Peace,
K

[imported_Tom Aiello]

I was in Twin Falls during the incident. I chatted with some locals about it. They actually seem to have a very healthy separation in their minds between BASE and suicide. I found the attitudes of the normal townspeople (I spent a lot of time wandering town and talking to people on this trip) very refreshing.


--Tom Aiello
tbaiello@mac.com

[jon593]

We found a body in the river after the first load of the day in Aug 01. They closed the bridge to jumping for awhile so they could investigate. It appeared to be a vagabond that had been hanging around the day before. He wasn't busted up so there was suspicion that he had not jumped. Just another day in paradise.