Two hikers die days apart after falling off Oregon cliffs

Two hikers died days apart in Oregon this week after falling off separate cliffs located less than five miles apart, authorities said.

An unidentified hiker was found Wednesday afternoon at the bottom of the Columbia River Gorge on the Angel’s Rest Trail approximately 2.5 miles from the trailhead, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said.

“The area where the person is located is difficult to reach,” the sheriff’s office tweeted a few hours after the body was discovered.

The terrain proved too treacherous for the Multnomah County Search & Rescue to recover the body that day.

After spending the night at the top of Angel’s Rest, rescuers reached the hiker Thursday morning. They used a high-angle rescue litter to hoist the body back to the trail.

The recovery effort took a total of 22 hours, the sheriff’s office said.

Officials believe the deceased had been hiking alone. The circumstances of their death are being investigated.

Just four days earlier, Jessica Warejoncas of Minnesota fell to her death near Wiesendanger Falls, approximately four miles from where the unidentified hiker was found.

The 62-year-old had been hiking with a group of friends when she fell approximately 100 feet, Multnomah sheriffs said.

She suffered a head injury and received CPR from bystanders, but was pronounced dead by responding firefighters.

Officials did not consider Warejoncas’ death suspicious.