Man Dies and Family of Five Injured in Incidents near Multnomah Falls

Tragedy strikes when one man falls from the top of Triple Falls and a family of five are hit by a landslide near Horsetail Falls.

Mulnomah Falls, Oregon Photo by Bonnie King

(CASCADE LOCKS, Ore.) - A family of five from North Portland was hiking above Horsetail Falls Friday afternoon when they were suddenly struck by a small landslide of mud, limbs and "melon-size" rocks.

Other hikers on the trail at the time, Ryan and Coranne Green, 24, from Pocatello, Idaho and Dillon Congrove, a Clark County volunteer firefighter said they were walking just ahead of the family when they heard rocks falling and looked back to see the father throw himself onto two of the kids to protect them as the rocks struck.

Dillon said he used his aid kit to "staunch the flow of blood' from the father's head and then he and Ryan, who carried the girl with the leg injury, and Coranne, who carried the family's belongings, helped the family down the hill to the Horsetail Falls parking lot where they were treated by the Cascade Locks fire department and the AMR Reach and Treat team.

The father had sustained serious head and back trauma, the mother had serious head trauma, the 6-year old boy had minor bumps and scrapes, the 10-year daughter, suffered a serious leg injury and the 10-year old friend, a minor wrist injury. All of them were transported by AMR ambulance to Emanuel Hospital. The family's names have not been released.

At about the same time, also near Multnomah Falls, a Vancouver volunteer firefighter, Jeremiah Lafor, noticed a Chow dog sitting at the top of Triple Falls looking over the edge of the 100' cliff. Jeremiah glanced over and saw a man lying unmoving about "30 yards" downstream from the base of the falls.

Horsetail Falls in the Columbia River Gorge

Jeremiah asked another hiker, Jack Arce of Salem, Oregon to call 911.

Personnel from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, who had been at the scene of the Horsetail Falls incident (only 1/2 mile up the highway) arrived, along with AMR's Reach and Treat Team, Multnomah County Fire and Rescue and Mountain Wave, a volunteer group that assists in setting up communications relays in difficult terrain.

A team of 12 individuals, with 70 pound packs full of medical, survival and communications gear, hiked up the 1.8 mile trail, found the man suffering from "massive head trauma" and began treatment, but were unable to save his life.

Saturday, Search and Rescue personnel recovered the body of the 70 year old Caucausian male who died in the Triple falls tragedy. He was positively identified by his Oregon driver's license, found in his pocket. The body has been turned over to the medical examiner who will determine the exact cause of death in the coming days.

There was no indication at the scene of how or why he fell. The victim's vehicle, a silver Toyota, was found in the Horsetail Falls parking lot and was taken to secure storage at the Sheriff's Office for safekeeping.

The man's dog was found and taken to the Troutdale animal shelter by county animal control officers. It is thought the man's next of kin may be in Eastern Oregon so his name is being withheld pending location and notification of his next of kin.

The trails are not blocked and have not been closed to hikers, but the Sheriff's Office would like to remind people that after the first rains, and freezes, in the fall, trails in the Gorge area can be treacherous.