Deadly dives

VAN BUREN, Mo. -- Like many of Mother Nature's beauties, the rivers and waterways of America can be deceptive -- at times serene and breathtakingly beautiful. But underestimate them, even for an instant, and the consequences can be brutal.

The same goes for the hundreds of miles of towering bluffs that border many of Missouri's lakes, rivers and float streams. For many, it's warning enough that the bluffs are framed by jagged edges, heights of up to 100 feet and shrapnel-like rocks that often lay in wait just beneath the quiet waters.

Others, however, find the bluffs inviting and can't resist the thrill of climbing them and leaping into what they believe is the safety net of the water.

It's called bluff jumping or cliff diving, and in the past two months, five people in Missouri, including a 25-year-old Sikeston woman on July 27, have died doing it. The accidents occurred at Truman Lake, Table Rock Lake, a quarry on private land, the Current River and on a river near Eminence.

Cliff diving hasn't been a big problem in years past, according to Dave Nelson, spokesman for the Missouri Water Patrol. But with so many deaths resulting from bluff jumping this year -- and an increasing number of serious accidents -- the patrol is warning people not to do it.

"It's dangerous," Nelson said last week over the roar of the jet boat slicing through the shallow waters of the Current River near Van Buren.

"People can get seriously hurt, from broken legs to spinal injuries," he said. "People don't think it can happen to them. What's happened this year has shown it can."

With fellow patrolman Cole Chatman leading the way in a separate boat, Nelson pulls close to the bluff where Mary Yarbrough fell. According to water patrol reports, Yarbrough had watched others climb the bluff, but when she attempted to climb up, she slipped and plummeted to the rocks on the water's edge. The patrol said Yarbrough had been drinking. She died from neck injuries related to the fall after being flown by helicopter to a St. Louis hospital.

Both patrolmen crane their heads to look at the top of the 30-foot bluff known as Shote Hole. It's easy to tell they're imagining Yarbrough as she fell. Their eyes pause at the sharp rocks at the base of the bluff.

Both shake their heads. There is silence for a moment.

After the quiet, Chatman acknowledges that he was one of the water patrolmen who responded to the scene. He directed water traffic away from the middle of the river as a boat carrying Yarbrough made its way to Van Buren 2 miles away.

"I used to do that when I was a kid," he says, almost apologetically. "I'd never seen anybody have an accident. I wouldn't do it now, that's for sure."

But people probably do it every day, Nelson said. And there's not much the water patrol can do. A few bluff areas adjacent to campgrounds are marked with signs warning of diving danger but are not fenced. Most of the bluffs are on private property. Even if a property owner files a complaint, only trespassing tickets can be issued.

Years ago, Missouri had a problem with young people jumping off bridges, Nelson said. Legislation made bridge jumping illegal, but currently there is no effort to pass similar laws for bluffs.

Even if there were, Nelson said, there is no way officers could effectively monitor the innumerable bluffs and cliffs in the state. A list of safety tips sounds good, but that would only encourage bluff diving.

"The best safety tip to be given when considering jumping is to not do it at all," he said. "And a lot of people are drinking when they do it. When you mix in alcohol it's even worse."

People in Van Buren say they see visitors to their town dive off of bluffs every time they take to the water. Amy Overway, who stopped in at the popular Jolly Cone restaurant, said she sees bluff diving about 90 percent of the time.

"I don't do it," she said as her 4-year-old son, Dalton, tugged at her leg. "I'm not that gutsy. But it's a thrill thing. People want to see if they can do it."

Donna Barton of nearby Fremont said she has an 18-year-old son who dives off the cliffs. Since Yarbrough's death, she's meant to talk to him about it but hasn't yet.

The Landing is a Van Buren hotel that also rents inner tubes, kayaks, rafts and canoes. Owner Tom Biddell said they always tell their customers not to jump off cliffs.

But it doesn't do any good.

He said 90 percent of the injuries he sees are related to cliff diving. He's not sure that people will ever stop doing it. He recalls last summer when a young man drowned after diving into the water.

"They were still jumping off the cliffs while the patrol was dragging the river for the body," Biddell said. "It's crazy. It's really tragic."

A table of young people who were about to take to the river for the day last week said they knew Mary Yarbrough. One was even on the river the day of her accident.

All of them said they still have no problem with bluff diving.

Gayle Linneman of Blackwater said she doesn't mind people doing it, though she suggests jumping in feet first, not diving. Ashley Unger, 18, of Sikeston said she's done it three or four times.

Andrew Jackson, 17, of Piedmont said he sees it as a lot of fun.

"But I didn't know anybody had died," he said. "You're making me rethink it."

Bethany Sloan, 20, also of Sikeston, summed up the sentiment of the group: "You've got to have fun while you can."

Back on the river, the young peoples' sentiment is the polar opposite of what the water patrol is trying to get across.

Have fun in the water, but don't do something foolish.

You can enjoy yourself without diving off bluffs or cliffs.

Learn from Mary Yarbrough.

"It's so still here," Nelson said in a final pause before turning the boat around and heading back for the dock. "It's beautiful. But you definitely have to respect the water."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137