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Stay informed of the latest local news by receiving emails as soon as news is posted online. The water had risen to hide many rocks, but when an obstacle did appear, the oarmen called out commands to Kelly Grossetete, the leader of search and rescues recently formed swift-water unit, or Laeljon Knowles, another search and rescue member who has logged many hours on the river. The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence everyweek for 26 weeks! At 565 feet (172 m) above the Rio Grande, it is the seventh highest bridge in the United States and 82nd highest bridge in the world. Click Here to See if you Qualify. TAOS, N.M. (AP) - Authorities say the death of a man whose body was found on the southwest side of the Taos Gorge Bridge was an apparent suicide. Checking back? It doesnt end for the people who have to go in and get them. We hope that you enjoy our free content. You have permission to edit this article. Walk Across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge! - Anne's Travels Taos County Sheriff Steve Miera. Isabelle Kohn is a sex and relationships journalist, educator and consultant who, for some reason, keeps writing about livestock instead. The Taos News Grim, chaotic, costly First jumper since 2021 highlights New Mexico's inaction to make Gorge Bridge safer 2023-03-16- By LIAM EASLEY leasley@taosnews.com Then they continued downstream, through the rapids, to Pilar. He was then reported as missing to the National Crime Information Center . Suicide at the Ro Grande Gorge Bridge and the toll of - The Taos News TAOS, N.M. Authorities say the death of a man whose body was found on the southwest side of the Taos Gorge Bridge was an apparent suicide. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. for 182 days. According to Priya Clemens, the Public Affairs Director for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, a suicide barrier can be a subtle or obvious sign that someone, somewhere, doesnt want them to die. The sun was shining and the air was warm when a team of seven pushed into the river on two rafts around 10:30 a.m. at John Dunn Bridge. Ive never even heard of mental health and suicide prevention coming up in community or project meetings Ive been a part of, he says. For reasons that are still unclear to her to this day, hed driven up to Gorge from his home in nearby Santa Fe. The weather can be harsh. which consisted of some much-needed structural maintenance including new concrete, curbs, ramps and gutters. The sidewalk is so narrow that you have to step directly into the busy road to let someone by and a strange collection of trash and detritus finds permanent residence on the cliffs below. Roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande, it is the tenth highest bridge in the United States. To be clear, neither Meertens nor any member of the GBSN is a psychologist or suicidologist; right now, these ideas are purely theoretical. I can see why its important that it would be, but right now, were pretty far from having that be a part of the engineering mindset. Sheriff: Body recovered from gorge possible suicide - The Taos News The Taos County Sheriff's Department responds to the scene of a jumper from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge Tuesday (March 14). That in itself is interesting (and beautiful), but a road bridge was built over the (almost) deepest section of the canyon. On a clear and unusually cold April morning in 2014, a family friend called 57-year-old Margaret OConnor to tell her that her son, 23-year-old Cooper Beacom, was acting erratically. Theyre also before their time: As Andy Herrmann, a bridge engineer and former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers confirms, emotion and psychology are almost never considered in bridge or barrier construction, at least in his field. He wasnt a suicidal kid, and Id never seen him act like that before. for 182 days, $58.46 Chase, a Taos loner who made smudge sticks for a living, disappeared leaving his vehicle at the rim of the Rio Grande gorge. The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 26 weeks! rise over the distant sparkle of city light while a westward view reveals a canopy of cirrus clouds dyed gold from the setting sun. In 2016, the New Mexico Department of Transportation installed 10 phones at the bridge. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. You may cancel at anytime. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. It helps if youve done it before but sometimes it just hits you in a way that its still very, very difficult, VanneBrightyn said of this step in the recovery process. Grossetete had been down the river many times before, but it was the first time she was making the trip to recover a body. Man dies after falling from cliff at Ro Grande Gorge At times, the trail is only 18 inches wide, barely enough room for a person and the body bag theyre often carrying to squeeze by. But for me, talking about it helps. Since his first recovery in 2003, hes had to take that same harrowing journey at least 25 times. You may cancel at anytime. Its painful and complicated, and there are no easy answers. Low 56F. Family still searching for 20-year-old man missing from Taos Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. No body ever found. High near 95F. (Taos New Mexico) Cain Cordova 6.4K subscribers Subscribe 50 Share 8.6K views 4. accounts, the history behind an article. People need to know what goes on here because if it leads to a solution that saves even one person, then to me, its worth it., Located 10 miles outside of Taos on a sage-dotted stretch of Route 64, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is among the tallest, most picturesque steel suspension structures in the country. Though she didnt have a reason to panic he was sober and had never been suicidal or clinically depressed she rushed out the door to find him with her younger son Keaun, then 16, in tow. Promotional Rates were found for your code. On a bridge like this, a hand-drawn heart and the words You deserve to live might be helpful to some, but a barrier, the kind that might actually keep you alive, would be helpful to all. [3] Construction [ edit] In addition to conducting a preliminary, a necessary first step before design or funding can take place theyve reduced the speed limit on the bridge, mocked up several of their own designs for barriers and installed suicide hotline callboxes, which a representative from the. Everybody wants this or at least something like it., everybody. Just like the dangerously oversimplified, that guns dont kill people; people do, it would be reductive and inaccurate to say that a bridge, Its not that OConnor thinks that bridge did this to him. In the months following Beacoms death, she formed the Gorge Bridge Safety Network (GBSN), a community support group made of suicide survivors, engineers, statisticians, politicians and locals with a common goal: Get a barrier up, stat. , a 62-year-old landscape architect who knew Beacom, were more than happy to mock one up. for 365 days, $75.00 They decided to move one boat below the rapid and the other above it. Be Nice. A former Marine and Taos native, Miera is thorough and polite. Right now, its a safe bridge, says Brasher. The Taos County Sheriffs Department responds to the scene of a jumper from the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge Tuesday (March 14). Create a password that only you will remember. 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In 2012, they completed barrier fencing on the Cold Springs Arch Bridge in Santa Barbara, and in March, they installed four-inch bird spikes on the rails of San Diegos Coronado Bridge as a temporary salve while they considered better, more permanent solutions. His death is being investigated as a possible suicide at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, said . In addition to conducting a preliminary structural feasibility analysis study a necessary first step before design or funding can take place theyve reduced the speed limit on the bridge, mocked up several of their own designs for barriers and installed suicide hotline callboxes, which a representative from the New Mexico Crisis Line confirms are used regularly. She and her team had trained hard to prepare for what they had to do, but she said she was still nervous about what they would find in the river, having heard the stories about what can happen to a person when they jump from the bridge. In fact, he says suicide and mental heath are so far off the radar of most bridge engineers that he was surprised Id even called to ask. That said, most people who jump dont leave notes or explanations, providing little insight into why they chose to end their lives there, on that particular bridge. The Taos Gorge - The Lobo Life - University of New Mexico At least 50 people have died this way since regular records started being kept in 1991, but OMI research scientist Garon Bodor tells me the actual figure is likely much higher. While the jumpers decision might hold for them the promise of an end, for the people who must interface with the grisly scenes they leave behind, the cycle of trauma never seems to. Don't knowingly lie about anyone The spikes didnt really work three people, in a 24-hour window shortly after they were erected but at least Caltrans did, Other government agencies have stepped up to the plate, too. Its also not as if NMDOT has done nothing to address safety on the bridge. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You can also text a crisis counselor by messaging the Crisis Text Line at 741741. At least 50 people have died this way since regular records started being kept in 1991, but OMI research scientist Garon Bodor tells me the actual figure is likely much higher. But for Miera, his recovery team and a handful of Taose, os whose loved ones have jumped, this isnt a time for silence. Its frustrating to watch these barriers go up on other suicide bridges around the country, says OConnor, clicking through image after image of freshly retrofitted bridge on her laptop at the Santa Fe coffee shop were meeting at. Its the same material engineers are installing at the Golden Gate Bridge to catch jumpers, but instead of positioning theirs horizontally like a net, Meertens and Cannon orient theirs vertically to create a tall, virtually unclimbable screen that curves backwards in a concave arch. With a team of emergency workers, he looked over the bridge's high railing and spotted a blur of colors in the shadows 600 feet below the steel arch bridge. As we walk along the sidewalk to the midway point, we pass hundreds of messages written in both faded and fresh black Sharpie on the guardrails and hotline callboxes. He was then reported as missing to the National Crime Information Center database. Suspended in mid-air amongst the kaleidoscopic layers of pink and gray rock descending into the canyon below, she wondered if theyd feel more a part of their environment than they had before theyd arrived. Maybe it would relieve some tension one experiences at the bridge. In a place like the Gorge, where Miera has recovered bodies of people whose parting notes claimed they werent suicidal but just wanted to see what it was like on the other side, that might not be the most outlandish idea. Miera says one woman traveled all the way from England and left a photographic record of her whole trip in her car. Its the same material engineers are installing at the Golden Gate Bridge to catch jumpers, but instead of positioning theirs horizontally like a net, Meertens and Cannon orient theirs vertically to create a tall, virtually unclimbable screen that curves backwards in a concave arch. When they arrived, Beacom was on the bridge. Partly cloudy. Sheriff Steve Miera said an operation to recover the man's body is tentatively planned for early Wednesday morning (March 15). Suicide at the Ro Grande Gorge Bridge and the toll of recovering a body, After a decade, Yu Garden set to close after Friday, Soaking in the beauty of the East Fork of the Jemez River, Online Only. for 182 days, $68.85 The Best Things To Do in Taos, New Mexico, in Two Days - Matador Network Add Review. If the bridge had many visitors that day, having to step closer to the safe but precarious edge to navigate around other people on the sidewalk might thrust them into a shared social space, an effect that could draw them out of isolation, if only for a moment. I wondered if it might satisfy the compelling sense of the deep void below, she says. The Taos News. Unfortunately, it's also known as a spot in which people jump to their death. Dedicated to nonmotorized recreation, the sagebrush mesa is laced with an interconnected system of easy- to moderate-level mountain biking and hiking trailsalso suitable for horseback riding. TAOS, N.M. (KRQE) - A 20-year-old National Guardsman went missing on February 21, 2021, at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge in Taos. Family desperate to find National Guardsman Juan Muoz missing nearly They shouted over the sound of the water, discussing how best bring it to shore. Though its never been the responsibility of a transportation agency to address suicide before, Caltrans has spent the last decade or so funding, constructing and maintaining a variety of different suicide barriers on popular jumping sites throughout the state. At 650 feet above the Rio Grande and 1200 feet across, it is the second highest suspension bridge in the United States. for 365 days, $71.00 Though public records show nearly everyone with a dog in the fight wants one and preliminary measures have been taken to get it done, there hasnt, to this day, been any change to the bridges original structure that would deter people from jumping. The man's identity and other details are pending investigation. Bring a padlock! - Review of Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, Taos, NM According to a 2017 study comparing the effectiveness of various suicide-prevention measures on bridges, nets are 77.1 percent effective at reducing suicides, while vertical barriers like tall bars or chain-link fences deter people from jumping 68.7 percent of the time. For these reasons, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline has. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. Rio Grande Gorge - Wikipedia Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge: Bring a padlock! Man jumps to his death from Ro Grande Gorge Bridge You may cancel at anytime. If you happen to find yourself venturing up north, the Taos Gorge is a must see. No one would fault NMDOT for spending the cash to improve bridge safety thats the whole point of a DOT but if funds can be allocated for that, why not the safety of people like Beacom or Miera? . It was a lofty idea with no known precedent, but Meertens says they wanted to do more for the community than simply put up a fence. Ten miles northwest of Taos on Highway 64, The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, hovers 650 feet above the gorge giving you some jaw-dropping views. Deputies have been unable to confirm whether or not the car belonged to the man whose body was recovered in the gorge. If you forget it, you'll be able to recover it using your email address. Hiking trails extend down to the Rio Grande, offering amazing day treks with huge shifts in perspective and a steady transition in vegetationfrom the desert plateau to the green riverbed. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Still, numbers like those make Taos County a close community of about 32,000 home to one of the highest bridge suicide rates per capita in the country. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. In many cases, methods like these really work. Thank you for signing in! Death on the river First responders recover human remains from Ro Grande Gorge 2018-07-26 - By John Miller jmiller@taosnews.com The Taos News . We won't share it with anyone else. Golden Gate Bridge is being retrofitted with a horizontal net to catch falling jumpers as we speak. Still, numbers like those make Taos County a close community of about 32,000 home to one of the highest bridge suicide rates per capita in the country. It doesnt end for friends. Taos teen's death renews call for barriers at gorge bridge Suicides/Deaths: Sept, 1990: Patrick Chase, 43, of Taos. The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 13 weeks! An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account. It scars the whole community. The two moved from the front of the raft to the back, digging paddles into the water to nuance the boats movements. They hiked over dirt and rocks that could come loose in places, sending smaller stones clattering over the edge and into the silence far below. In the deafening silence that followed, she tried to wrap her mind around what had just happened. Your email address will be used to confirm your account. But, theres also no doubt in her mind that it made a split-second decision too easy. for 365 days, $73.87 I can see why its important that it would be, but right now, were pretty far from having that be a part of the engineering mindset. His death is being investigated as a possible suicide at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, said Sheriff Steve Miera. Before we leave, we take a moment to remember Beacom. A few are gut-turning one bastardizes the Nike slogan Just Do It but most are positive, delivering moving words of encouragement to anyone who might read them. Meanwhile, Cornell University has, to their campus over the past few years, and the infamously. They also send an important message. Construction began in 1963 and was completed in 1965. In Toronto, the Prince Edward Viaduct once considered North Americas second-deadliest bridge was recently outfitted with a beautiful one, an incandescent safety structure called a Luminous Veil. When they reached the river, Miera said he could see that the body, which had only been visible as a small speck from above, had been destroyed by the fall. Morgan Timms/The Taos News. In the meantime, people continue to die. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. Hogrefe identified the man on Monday (Sept. 17) as 60-year-old Robert Diaz of Bedford, Oregon. A man jumped to his death from the Ro Grande Gorge Bridge mid-afternoon Tuesday (March 14), marking the first suicide to be recorded at the scenic landmark since 2021, according to the Taos County Sheriff's Office. In fact, he says suicide and mental heath are so far off the radar of most bridge engineers that he was surprised Id even called to ask. You may cancel at anytime. Had it been approved, GBSNs barrier as well as another similar barrier that was proposed would have cost around $3.4 million to build, a fraction of the, they had to work with in 2018 and the one-time General Fund bonus of, they received this year due to the states considerable surplus. In 2012, the Gorge bridge also received a $2.4 million . Thats the ultimate hard.. A team of rescuers from the Bureau of Land Management, Taos Search and Rescue and Taos County Sheriff's Department rafted to a remote section of the river to recover human remains discovered by rafters of April 23. Man jumps to death at Rio Grande Gorge Bridge | Local News Hogrefe has explained that cameras would help solve these . Its an ongoing story.. Back in Taos, Meertens takes me out to the bridge so she can show me what her barrier would look like. Efforts stall to stop suicides at Rio Grande Gorge Bridge Rio Grande Gorge Bridge: Wow what a view - See 3,665 traveler reviews, 1,616 candid photos, and great deals for Taos, NM, at Tripadvisor. The spikes didnt really work three people committed suicide in a 24-hour window shortly after they were erected but at least Caltrans did something. She and Keaun were just a few steps behind him when he hopped over the thin railing and fell to his death. You have permission to edit this article. Hes the type of guy who calls you maam and will ring you from his cop car during a homicide pursuit to calmly ask if he can reschedule an interview. Right now, he says the only way he can cope with the suicide problem at the Gorge is to accept that until something gets done about the bridge, his next mission wont be his last. Unlimited access to the Taos News website for a full year! The path down to the river below is steep and treacherous; its an obstacle course of sharp rocks, rattlesnakes and precipitous drop-offs. She writes features and long-form pieces for MEL, usually without the help of Clippy. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. OConnor knew something had to change. But with few answers and even fewer resources, the town is hoping the burgeoning field of 'emotional architecture' can help prevent jumpers from taking their lives A series of steel poles stationed along the bridges length would give the screen structure, but apart from that, thats all there is. Standing at the west rim, Taos County Sheriff officers use binoculars and radios to keep in constant communication with their deputies helping recover a body in the gorge. What happens to a body during a fall like that is just horrific, he explains, thinking of his extraordinarily difficult and costly job, his voice softening into silence on the other line. Roughly 600 ft above the Rio Grande, it is the tenth highest bridge in the United States. In 2012, they completed, in Santa Barbara, and in March, they installed, as a temporary salve while they considered better, more permanent solutions. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. 15 Nov 1990: Mike Finley, 45. It takes a special kind of person to come out and do this because you dont know what youre going to find there, she said. It took over two hours before they crossed Powerline Rapid to see a yellow paddle rafters had wedged between some rocks on the west bank of the river, marking where they had tethered the body to the shoreline. It just brings up so many questions about the role of design, Marteens tells me while I sit beside her at her grey adobe cottage on the outskirts of town, where she pulls up a 3D model of their barrier design on her desktop and begins to describe its scope. According to New Mexicos Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI), an average of 2.5 people commit suicide by jumping off the Gorge Bridge each year. Its painful and complicated, and there are no easy answers. While the Rio Grande Gorge is a canyon created by erosion, it also follows a rift created by an earthquake. Death at Taos Bridge called apparent suicide - KOAT Channel 7 People were sick of all the tragedy, says Meertens. In 2003, Steve Miera was a young deputy with the Taos County Sheriff's Office when he hiked below the Ro Grande Gorge Bridge to recover the body of a jumper for the first time. More recently, the bridge has also garnered a bit of an, , with more than a few walk-on roles in big-budget films like, . Grossetete prepared herself for the worst as the body emerged from the water, bruised and bloated from the fall, but still intact after weeks submerged in the cold current. Taos County approves $150K for gorge bridge cameras . Weinstock held a line to the lower raft. It gets cars safely across. The team worked methodically for more than 20 minutes, sometimes stepping into the coursing water to see if another angle might provide a sure grip to pull the body free. Thank you for reading! Taos County Sheriff's Deputy Lorenzo Sanchez throws a rope to Taos Search and Rescue's Nathan Oswald on Thursday (April 25) while the team works to dislodge a body from where it became caught in a rapid several miles downstream from the Ro Grande Gorge Bridge. Your current subscription does not provide access to this content. People need to know what goes on here because if it leads to a solution that saves even one person, then to me, its worth it., Located 10 miles outside of Taos on a sage-dotted stretch of Route 64, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is among the tallest, most picturesque steel suspension structures in the country. This is the route that 48-year-old Taos County Undersheriff, and his team must take to retrieve the bodies of people who commit suicide by jumping from the. The crew went to work immediately, tying the rafts to the riverbank. Cancel anytime. I know a lot of people who dont like to talk about this, and I can really respect that, Miera says. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. for 30 days, $6.99 The, who also supports the construction of a barrier allocates their budget and determines which projects receive funding and when. The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address everyweek for 26 weeks! Incredibly, that height is up to standard for a historic highway bridge, but that doesnt change the fact that at times, holding on to it seems almost as dangerous as letting go. Standing on the bridge can be a bit nerve racking, as the cement fluctuates beneath you with each car that passes. When 29-year-old gallery director and Taos native Kimber Garcia tells me she and her friends almost never visit the bridge, Im not surprised. Mainly clear. The issue is again on the minds of those in Taos County. Yet a quick peek at some of NMDOTs most recent annual budgets and appropriations reveals that might not actually be the case. Instead of pushing people further away from their surroundings in the name of safety, it would use the curative, In the mock-up, they ditch the original guardrail and replace it with. Though its never been the responsibility of a transportation agency to address suicide before, Caltrans has spent the last decade or so funding, constructing and maintaining a variety of different suicide barriers on popular jumping sites throughout the state. It used to be the prevailing sentiment of our Board of Directors that mental health wasnt really an issue a transportation agency needed to solve, Clemens says.