JASPER — Authorities say a 20-year-old South Dakota woman has died after falling off a cliff in Northwest 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.
Wheeler says Norton was with a group of college students from Sioux City, Iowa, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off Hawksbill Crag, 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. Also known as Whitaker Point, the rocky outcrop gets its name because it resembles a hawk's bill.
Norton, originally of Hot Springs, S.D., was a junior studying environmental science at Briar Cliff University where she also played volleyball, according to the college.
“She lived BCU’s values in everything she did from the classroom to the court and everywhere she went,” the school wrote in a statement. “Andrea made a tremendous impact on the BCU community and everyone she met and will be greatly missed.”
Information for this article was contributed by Youssef Rddad of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.