Kelly Rose Denman, 20, from Englewood, CO, died last weekend after she fell about 80 feet down a rocky cliff from the open window sill of her hotel in the town of Vernazza. Denman was scheduled to begin her junior year at the University of Washington in Seattle next month.
Denman had recently posted a message along side her photo on her Twitter account that said simply, "die living." Authorities said she and two friends were staying in a small hotel in the Cinque Terre region of northwestern Italy, an area known for its rugged coastline and the terraces that have been built right up to the edge of the steep cliffs. They had returned from a night on the town and according to police, had been drinking.
COMMENT: From all accounts, Denman's roommates were asleep when Denman fell from an open window sill overlooking the water some 80 feet below the room the three women had been staying staying in. The victim's friends reported her missing late Saturday morning and by afternoon two local men found her lifeless body in the water below the hotel.
The first logical step in any suspicious death is to have a number of different toxicological tests conducted to determine if substances in her body may have contributed to her death. If it can be chemically proved that there were levels of alcohol or other substances in her body that may have caused her to sit in an open window sill and fall some 80 feet to the sea below, then that can contribute to understanding the causation of death, other than drowning, when her body reached the water. If no such substances were present in her body, then other reasons that caused her to fall from the open window sill must be examined, including her "die living" statement.
In my book, STAYING SAFE ABROAD, I make reference to the negative influence that drinking and/or the use of drugs can have on choices and decisions we must lucidly make in order to keep ourselves safe from harm while abroad. Whether it be to make the proper choice when confronting a street criminal or avoiding a terrible accident or fall, we must be clear of mind when in unfamiliar and different settings. It should also be noted that in modern hotels, it is often difficult to open windows large enough for one to fall a number of stories. And, of course, in low-rise buildings that risk is also minimized. Hence, our choice of hotels can often dictate the level of risk we are going to be exposed to.
Denman had recently posted a message along side her photo on her Twitter account that said simply, "die living." Authorities said she and two friends were staying in a small hotel in the Cinque Terre region of northwestern Italy, an area known for its rugged coastline and the terraces that have been built right up to the edge of the steep cliffs. They had returned from a night on the town and according to police, had been drinking.
COMMENT: From all accounts, Denman's roommates were asleep when Denman fell from an open window sill overlooking the water some 80 feet below the room the three women had been staying staying in. The victim's friends reported her missing late Saturday morning and by afternoon two local men found her lifeless body in the water below the hotel.
The first logical step in any suspicious death is to have a number of different toxicological tests conducted to determine if substances in her body may have contributed to her death. If it can be chemically proved that there were levels of alcohol or other substances in her body that may have caused her to sit in an open window sill and fall some 80 feet to the sea below, then that can contribute to understanding the causation of death, other than drowning, when her body reached the water. If no such substances were present in her body, then other reasons that caused her to fall from the open window sill must be examined, including her "die living" statement.
In my book, STAYING SAFE ABROAD, I make reference to the negative influence that drinking and/or the use of drugs can have on choices and decisions we must lucidly make in order to keep ourselves safe from harm while abroad. Whether it be to make the proper choice when confronting a street criminal or avoiding a terrible accident or fall, we must be clear of mind when in unfamiliar and different settings. It should also be noted that in modern hotels, it is often difficult to open windows large enough for one to fall a number of stories. And, of course, in low-rise buildings that risk is also minimized. Hence, our choice of hotels can often dictate the level of risk we are going to be exposed to.
