21-Year-Old Woman Dies After Apparent Fall From Cliff In San Pedro
SAN PEDRO (CBSLA.com) — A 21-year-old woman died Friday in an accidental fall from a cliff overlooking the ocean near Point Fermin in San Pedro, authorities said.
Firefighters were dispatched about 2:10 p.m. to the 500 block of West Paseo del Mar to assist police and coroner's personnel at the scene, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.
The body of Lorena Barrera, 21, was found at the base of a cliff "after (an) apparent fall," Humphrey said.
Investigators said Friday evening that it appeared she climbed over a wall to take a picture of the view and to get a closer look at the ocean below.
The woman was with friends at Point Fermin Park and wearing flip-flops, when they say she tripped while trying to take a photo, plummeting roughly 100 feet onto the rocks below.
KCAL9's Peter Daut said Barrera had just moved to California -- from Reno -- and on her first full day here wanted to get a great photo of the view and the Pacific Ocean.
Terri Brown watched as firefighters removed Berrera's body.
Brown says she has climbed over the three-foot wall to get better views, but no longer.
"It's dangerous!" Brown said. "People dying!"
Earlier this month, the bodies of a man and woman were discovered at the bottom of the same stretch of cliffs in what police believe was a similar accident.
Not including suicides, fire officials say, about a dozen people a year accidentally fall to their deaths.
Teresa Wood lives near the cliff and says she's seen several deadly accidents there over the years.
She worries visitors don't realize the danger of climbing over the walls to get to the edge and wants more signs warning people not to do it.
"I'm not sure people would necessarily adhere to them, but I don't think it's a bad idea," Wood said.