Authorities say a 20-year-old Briar Cliff University student from Hot Springs, South Dakota has died after falling off a cliff in northwestern Arkansas.
Newton County Sheriff Glenn Wheeler says Andrea Norton was fatally injured on Saturday when she accidentally fell from a rock formation near Jasper, about 101 miles northwest of Little Rock.
Norton was a member of the Briar Cliff volleyball team.
University President Rachelle Karstens posed a message asking for prayers for Norton, her family and students struggling with the loss of their friend, classmate and teammate.
Sheriff Wheeler says Norton was with a group of students from Sioux City, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag.
The area is a popular hiking destination within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.
Wheeler says the crag is widely considered one of Arkansas’ most-photographed hiking areas, and several people have died in falls there in recent years.
Photo courtesy Briar Cliff University
