| Subject: Crag Diver again |
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Date Posted: 16:08:08 06/04/03 Wed
BU student found dead
By LEON BOGDAN
Press Enterprise Writer
BLOOMSBURG -- A Bucks County man who just began summer classes at Bloomsburg University died in an apparent accidental fall behind the Crag Mansion, authorities said.
Two children found Kevin White's body around 7 a.m. Tuesday while bicycling to school, said Bloomsburg Police Lt. Joseph Wondoloski.
White, 21, of Churchville near Hatboro, was pronounced dead of injuries suffered in the fall by Columbia County Deputy Coroner Linda Kessler. An autopsy is planned today at Lehigh Valley Medical Center in Allentown.
Wondoloski said injuries "consistent with a fall" were visible on the body. It was found on an abandoned rail bed at the bottom of a 70-foot-high cliff, a precarious site where other students and children have fallen.
It was not known how long White had been lying there, nor was it clear why he had been in the secluded area of town, which overlooks a branch of Fishing Creek near Fernville. Police hopes postmortem tests can shed more light on the death.
A door-to-door canvass of the neighborhood by police failed to turn up anyone who knew White or may have seen or heard anything unusual overnight, Wondoloski said.
University officials were checking a student identity card access system that records movements of students in and out of secured campus buildings to try to determine when White may have left his residence hall on campus.
University spokesman Jim Hollister said White was a transfer student who last attended West Chester University two years ago and also did some credit work at Bucks County Community College.
White had enrolled in secondary education studies and was listed as a sophomore on arriving at Bloomsburg.
White also spent most of the past year serving as a reservist with the U.S. Air Force and was still active with his military reserve unit, according to his academic records.
"It's very unfortunate," said BU Vice President for Student Life Preston Herring.
White had recently moved into Lycoming Hall, and a vehicle registered to him was found parked on campus, police said.
Police and ambulance crews removed the body from the site of the fall by midmorning after scouring the bluff and bushes for any clues into the death. Two rappelling volunteers were also called to examine the steep bluff, but nothing of significance was found, Wondoloski said.
Crag's other victims
The steep cliff was the site of another BU student death in June 1997. Matthew Miller, 18, of Sunbury plunged down the cliff while running away from a drinking party as two police cars showed up to quiet noise.
One year earlier, a 6-year-old neighborhood boy was injured but survived a tumble partially down the cliff onto a foot path when he wandered off while playing.
In January of that same year, a suspected drunk driver from Shamokin who fled a traffic stop on Market Street also fell down the cliff face when he clambered over a fence after running along West First Street. Heavy snow broke his fall and helped to minimize injuries, although police say he was hospitalized for about a week.
Leon Bogdan can be reached at 784-2121, ext. 1307, or by e-mail at leon.b@pe-online.com
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