Officials reported that a woman lost her life on Friday after falling approximately 100 feet inside a cave in Virginia. The Giles County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call stating that the woman had fallen about 100 feet within a cave, as per a news release from county emergency services.
Situated in Staffordsville, around 60 miles west of Roanoke, the cave became the site of the urgent response. The woman, identified as Autumn Nicole Draper, 38, from Fairlawn, was pronounced deceased by first responders. The Celco Emergency Response team and the Blacksburg Rescue Squad’s Technical Rescue Cave team were subsequently summoned for additional support, successfully extracting her body from the cave.
While it is unclear whether the cave was a recognized tourist attraction or an unregulated site, officials have not provided details regarding Draper’s purpose in the cave. The incident is still under investigation.
