Police identify body found at Mount Bonnell while crews rescued person who fell off cliff
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Police have identified the man who was found dead Saturday at Mount Bonnell as emergency crews were rescuing an injured person who fell off a cliff.
Austin Police Department tells CBS Austin that the deceased person has been identified as 21-year-old Prabin Gharti. APD says the death is not considered suspicious.
The rescue operation in West Austin started at around 7:30 p.m.
Crews with Austin-Travis County EMS, Austin Fire Department, Austin Police Department, and STAR Flight were searching for the person who fell when they found an "obviously deceased person," authorities said.
The injured subject of the original call was located and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Their condition was not released, but Austin Fire Department tweeted out that they had a broken femur.
“This doesn’t happen very often but I can see how it could happen and there are ways to prevent it from happening,” said LeAnn Ishcomer, park ranger program manager with the Austin Parks and Recreation Department.
Ishcomer isn’t aware of whether signage or fences could come in the future, but she says each person heading up Mount Bonnell should be careful and stay away from the edges.
“First, leave no trace. Stick to the trails, and I'm not talking about the pathways other people have sort of wound around there, I'm talking about the official trail,” said Ishcomer.
Some Austinites hope to see more safety features to accompany the stellar views.
"I think that it’s beautiful views, but you know, I do worry a bit about the safety,” said one visitor Monday afternoon.
Across the Austin-Travis County area, Walter Finch paramedic captain with ATCEMS says they've had six high-angle rescues this year. These range from places like Mount Bonnell, to the Pennybacker Bridge overlook and the greenbelt.
“It’s something we train for pretty often, we also train in that location, it's the second time I've been there on rescue myself, so I was familiar with the terrain,” said captain Finch.
The parks and recreation department says they already have some extra, seasonal park rangers helping out and they’ll continue monitoring the area.
"I think it's a wondrous place, or it can be when folks are using it in a safe way,” said Ishcomer.
Ishcomer says the biggest problem happening in the area is a crime, specifically car break-ins. According to APD’s incident reports, there have been at least four in the past week.
“There's been a lot of break-ins there, we’ve got about acquiring some take, lock, and hide handouts,” said Ishcomer.
Isomer says they’re working with APD on the issues.
Austin Police told CBS Austin that the detective working on the investigation related to the death of 21-year-old Gharti is open. The detection on the case was not available for an interview Monday.
CBS Austin will update this story when more details become available.
ORIGINAL ----------
Austin Police have identified the man who was found dead Saturday at Mount Bonnell as emergency crews were rescuing an injured person who fell off a cliff.
The rescue operation in West Austin started at around 7:30 p.m.
Crews with Austin-Travis County EMS, Austin Fire Department, Austin Police Department and STAR Flight were searching for the person who fell when they found an "obviously deceased person," authorities said.
That person has been identified as 21-year-old Prabin Gharti. APD says the death is not considered suspicious.
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The injured subject of the original call was located and transported to a local hospital for treatment. Their condition was not released.
Further details were not immediately available.
