A University of Kentucky medical student was found dead at the bottom of a cliff. Authorities said she accidentally fell.
Gabby Smith, 24, had gone hiking Wednesday in the Red River Gorge but did not return home, Powell County Search and Rescue said in a statement.
The family said they believed Smith, who had been hiking for years, accidentally slipped and fell, according to WLWT5.
“It’s tragic. That’s really the only words I can come up with,” her father, Randy Smith, reportedly said.
Smith’s mother, Kerensa, said Smith alerted her friends to her hike prior and took precautions, according to the report. (RELATED: 24-Year-Old Hiker Slipped And Plummeted 80 Feet To His Death, Police Say)
Smith’s family said they never heard from Smith as to whether she made it home and her phone pinged her location at the gorge the following day.
Rescue workers managed to ping her phone and watch to obtain her GPS coordinates and began scouring the area, according to authorities.
An absolutely heartbreaking story to share this morning. This is Gabby Smith. She’s from Alexandria and was in her second year of medical school at the University of Kentucky. She died after falling while hiking at Red River Gorge in preparation for a trip out west with friends. pic.twitter.com/csJ9nP4Acw
— Kathryn Robinson (@Local12Kathryn) May 6, 2021
“We did not get the results that we wanted,” Powell County Search and Rescue said. “She was located at the bottom of a 150′ cliff and did not survive the fall.”
Lisa Johnson, a spokesperson for the rescue agency told Fox News it appeared Smith was taking videos near the edge of the cliff.
“She was taking videos of her surroundings and from the video you could see she was on the edge.”
Johnson said the day Smith went hiking the area was “very slippery” because of rainfall.
Authorities rescued another hiker that fell off a cliff the night Smith went missing, according to Johnson. The other unidentified hiker survived.
“Gabby was a kind, devoted student, and we will miss having her on our campus,” the school said in a statement.
“This is a tragic loss for our college community, especially for our medical students. We are here to offer support in whatever way that we can.”
