Parents die in hiking tragedy

Family outing turns fatal; young sons hospitalized

ALBANY, N.Y. » When the Green family left for a weekend outing, they headed for the Zoar Valley Gorge, a rugged area not far from their home in Buffalo that includes waterfalls, forests and cliffs that plunge as much as 400 feet (122 meters), or 40 stories, straight down.

But a summer hike turned tragic when both parents, Amanda and William Green, were found dead Sunday at the bottom of the gorge, and both of their young sons were hospitalized, one with severe injuries.

Police on Monday were still trying to piece together how the couple and 4-year-old Alexander tumbled off a cliff and wound up alongside a creek far below, and how 7-year-old Jacob, though injured, escaped more serious harm.

“It is a gorge,” said Capt. Daniel Richter, a New York state forest ranger. “It’s like anything else. You don’t want to get too close to the edge. There have been accidents. There have been fa-

talities. It’s just the nature of the area.”

Authorities believe the parents and Alexander fell about 200 feet (60 meters) down the cliff, but they are not sure why. Police continue to investigate.

The tragedy unfolded Sunday in the Zoar Valley, a popular hiking and kayaking spot 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Buffalo. According to Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard, two hikers trekking through the bottom of the gorge came across the Greens’ bodies. The injured 4-year-old was nearby, he said.

“The first two hikers who found the bodies did not have a cellphone,” Howard said. “They flagged down a third hiker who made the call.”

A sheriff’s helicopter made a dangerous landing on the gorge floor and evacuated the 4-year-old as emergency crews and police descended the cliff face. Rescuers searching the area for clues found sneakers and footprints that were too big for a 4-year-old.

Around that time, authorities learned from relatives that four members of the Green family had gone to the gorge, officials said.

More searchers were brought in, and hours later a sheriff’s detective found Jacob walking in the area. It was still unclear Monday if the older boy fell along with his parents and brother, sheriff’s spokesman Scott Zylka said.

Alexander was listed in guarded condition Monday at a Buffalo hospital where he was being treated for internal injuries, fractures and a head injury, Erie County Sheriff Timothy Howard said.

His brother was taken to the same hospital for a broken right arm and ankle. He was listed in good condition, the sheriff said.

Amanda Green, 35, worked at Blue-Cross Blue-Shield of Western New York. The health insurance company said it was assisting the family and issued a statement on behalf of the couple’s relatives.

“This tragic event has left us with empty hearts and without words,” the statement said. “While the details of yesterday are still being discovered, we want to remember Amanda and William’s legacy as two parents that loved their children dearly.”

Although a marked hiking trail runs along part of the gorge’s rim, authorities did not know if the Greens were on it at any time during their outing.

“It’s sheer. It’s drops straight down,” Zylka said of the area where the family was found.

The Zoar Valley Gorge is surrounded by farmland and forests. With shale cliffs and the whitewater Cattaraugus Creek running through the gorge, it can attract hundreds of visitors on a typical summer day, officials said.

Since 2005, the gorge has been the scene of several deaths and rescue operations after hikers got hurt or lost. The deaths include a 49-year-old man who died after falling nearly 200 feet from a cliff; a 48-yearold man who landed in the creek after falling off a cliff while hiking; and a 19-yearold woman who died when she fell from the top of a waterfall.