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A Minnesota woman killed her boyfriend Monday by shooting at a book he was holding over his chest, in a YouTube video stunt gone wrong. Monalisa Perez,19, was attempting to make a viral video with boyfriend Pedo Ruiz III, 22, to post to their YouTube account, according to a Norman County Sheriff's Department arrest report.
Perez told police that her boyfriend wanted to make a YouTube video of her shooting a book and had been talking about it for awhile.
He held the book up to his chest and convinced Perez to shot at him, believing the book would stop the bullet.
Perez told police that Pedro convinced her it was a safe stunt by showing her a different book he had previously shot where the bullet did not go all the way through, according to the arrest report. He set up two cameras to film the whole thing, hoping a video of the dangerous stunt would go viral.
She fired from about a foot away with a .50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun while he held the book to his chest. It did not stop the bullet, and paramedics on the scene said Ruiz died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Pregnant Woman Accidentally Kills Boyfriend During YouTube Stunt in Minnesota; Family Says Couple Wanted ‘More Viewers’ | KTLA
Perez told police that her boyfriend wanted to make a YouTube video of her shooting a book and had been talking about it for awhile.
He held the book up to his chest and convinced Perez to shot at him, believing the book would stop the bullet.
Perez told police that Pedro convinced her it was a safe stunt by showing her a different book he had previously shot where the bullet did not go all the way through, according to the arrest report. He set up two cameras to film the whole thing, hoping a video of the dangerous stunt would go viral.
She fired from about a foot away with a .50-caliber Desert Eagle handgun while he held the book to his chest. It did not stop the bullet, and paramedics on the scene said Ruiz died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Pregnant Woman Accidentally Kills Boyfriend During YouTube Stunt in Minnesota; Family Says Couple Wanted ‘More Viewers’ | KTLA
He held the book up to his chest and convinced Perez to shot at him, believing the book would stop the bullet.
New Zealand woman dies from jet blast near Saint Maarten's Princess Juliana International airport
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
First posted: Thursday, July 13, 2017 09:36 AM EDT | Updated: Thursday, July 13, 2017 12:22 PM EDT
A New Zealand woman is dead after being flung through the air by a jet blast near Saint Maarten’s Princess Juliana airport.
It’s believed the 57-year-old tourist was standing along a fence near the runway Wednesday when a Boeing 737 took off.
The jet blast reportedly caused the woman to lose her balance, fall and slam her head on the nearby pavement.
She was pronounced dead in hospital, the New Zealand Herald confirmed.
"I met with the family of the deceased this evening and while they recognized that what they did was wrong, through the clearly visible danger signs, they regret that risk they took turned out in the worst possible way,” Rolando Brison, Saint Maarten’s director of tourism, told the Herald.
(Video shot at Maho Beach in 2014)
"At this time I only wish to express my deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones while we continue to investigate what transpired.”
Maho Beach, where the tragedy transpired, is located just 50 metres from the end of the airport’s runway.
There are warning signs posted nearby warning tourists of the blasts that emanate from arriving and departing aircraft.
Still, it’s common for beachgoers to stand directly behind passenger planes prior to take off.
The jet blasts blow thrill-seekers into the nearby ocean.
The popular tourist attraction also offers a one-of-a-kind view of planes flying metres overhead before they touch down on the island.
A New Zealand woman is dead after being flung through the air by a jet blast near Saint Maarten’s Princess Juliana airport.
It’s believed the 57-year-old tourist was standing along a fence near the runway Wednesday when a Boeing 737 took off.
The jet blast reportedly caused the woman to lose her balance, fall and slam her head on the nearby pavement.
She was pronounced dead in hospital, the New Zealand Herald confirmed.
"I met with the family of the deceased this evening and while they recognized that what they did was wrong, through the clearly visible danger signs, they regret that risk they took turned out in the worst possible way,” Rolando Brison, Saint Maarten’s director of tourism, told the Herald.
(Video shot at Maho Beach in 2014)
"At this time I only wish to express my deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones while we continue to investigate what transpired.”
Maho Beach, where the tragedy transpired, is located just 50 metres from the end of the airport’s runway.
There are warning signs posted nearby warning tourists of the blasts that emanate from arriving and departing aircraft.
Still, it’s common for beachgoers to stand directly behind passenger planes prior to take off.
The jet blasts blow thrill-seekers into the nearby ocean.
The popular tourist attraction also offers a one-of-a-kind view of planes flying metres overhead before they touch down on the island.
A screen grab taken from video shot near Maho Beach, St. Maarten in 2014 shows how close the runway is to the water. (Kai A. Hortmann)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqVjD3nBSQg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV28AL0k1kY
New Zealand woman dies from jet blast near Saint Maarten's Princess Juliana Inte
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqVjD3nBSQg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV28AL0k1kY
New Zealand woman dies from jet blast near Saint Maarten's Princess Juliana Inte
Waterfall tragedy in Alberta: Body of 33-year-old man recovered following Elbow Falls plunge
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 07:24 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 08:09 AM EDT
BRAGG CREEK, Alta. — The body of a 33-year-old Calgary man has been recovered from Elbow Falls, southwest of Bragg Creek, Alta.
Police say Abdul Quadir Mohammed and his family were visiting the area on Saturday, and had ventured beyond a protective barrier to take photographs.
Another member of the family lost their footing and were in danger of falling when Mohammed tried to grab them and lost his own footing, plunging into the churning water below.
Relatives tried to rescue him but were unable to reach him, and police were called to the scene that evening.
RCMP Corporal Troy Savinkoff says the dive team from the Calgary Fire Department located his body behind the waterfall in about 3.6 metres of water.
Another person fell in trying to see what happened and was also taken to hospital in serious condition.
Police say there have been fatalities at the falls in the past and that the barriers are in place to keep people safe.
“People want to come out and enjoy the sun and beautiful locations but when places have a history to be dangerous, there’s a reason why those barricades are there,” says Savinkoff.
Elbow Falls tumbles over a shelf of rock west of Bragg Creek, Alta.
Waterfall tragedy in Alberta: Body of 33-year-old man recovered following Elbow
THE CANADIAN PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 07:24 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, August 01, 2017 08:09 AM EDT
BRAGG CREEK, Alta. — The body of a 33-year-old Calgary man has been recovered from Elbow Falls, southwest of Bragg Creek, Alta.
Police say Abdul Quadir Mohammed and his family were visiting the area on Saturday, and had ventured beyond a protective barrier to take photographs.
Another member of the family lost their footing and were in danger of falling when Mohammed tried to grab them and lost his own footing, plunging into the churning water below.
Relatives tried to rescue him but were unable to reach him, and police were called to the scene that evening.
RCMP Corporal Troy Savinkoff says the dive team from the Calgary Fire Department located his body behind the waterfall in about 3.6 metres of water.
Another person fell in trying to see what happened and was also taken to hospital in serious condition.
Police say there have been fatalities at the falls in the past and that the barriers are in place to keep people safe.
“People want to come out and enjoy the sun and beautiful locations but when places have a history to be dangerous, there’s a reason why those barricades are there,” says Savinkoff.
Elbow Falls tumbles over a shelf of rock west of Bragg Creek, Alta.
Waterfall tragedy in Alberta: Body of 33-year-old man recovered following Elbow
Ontario man dies in freak Hawaii tragedy
Postmedia Network
First posted: Thursday, August 03, 2017 03:40 PM EDT
A 48-year-old Ontario man vacationing in Hawaii was killed when he was suddenly swept out to sea by a killer wave.
Cops say the man - whose name they’re withholding - was lying on the rocks, enjoying the sun near the Nakalele Point blowhole on Maui.
But a giant wave came crashing in, sweeping the man out to sea.
At first, he seemed to be fine, the Maui News reports - then he wasn’t. By the time rescue crews arrived, the man was floating face down about 200 feet from shore.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after repeated attempts to revive him failed.
“Never turn your back to the ocean. Always keep a watchful eye for potential incoming ocean waves,” a spokesperson said.
Ontario man dies in freak Hawaii tragedy | World | News | Toronto Sun
Postmedia Network
First posted: Thursday, August 03, 2017 03:40 PM EDT
A 48-year-old Ontario man vacationing in Hawaii was killed when he was suddenly swept out to sea by a killer wave.
Cops say the man - whose name they’re withholding - was lying on the rocks, enjoying the sun near the Nakalele Point blowhole on Maui.
But a giant wave came crashing in, sweeping the man out to sea.
At first, he seemed to be fine, the Maui News reports - then he wasn’t. By the time rescue crews arrived, the man was floating face down about 200 feet from shore.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after repeated attempts to revive him failed.
“Never turn your back to the ocean. Always keep a watchful eye for potential incoming ocean waves,” a spokesperson said.
Ontario man dies in freak Hawaii tragedy | World | News | Toronto Sun
Florida girl, 8, dies months after drinking scalding water on a dare she discovered on YouTube
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, August 04, 2017 07:56 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, August 04, 2017 08:08 AM EDT
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — An 8-year-old Florida girl has died five months after she was injured while drinking boiling water through a straw on a dare.
The SunSentinel reports Ki’ari Pope started having trouble breathing Sunday night.
She told her mother’s boyfriend, who called 911.
She was taken to a hospital where she died.
Marquisia Bonner, the child’s 22-year-old mother, says Ki’ari had suffered complications since March when she took the dare from her cousin after they watched a YouTube video where someone appeared to drink boiling water from a straw.
She had emergency surgery on her windpipe to clear scar tissue.
Her mother says a tracheotomy left her with trouble breathing and talking.
Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater says the medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Ki’ari Pope, 8.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI8cYJqyt0I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWA57ZANww
Florida girl, 8, dies months after drinking scalding water on a dare she discove
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Friday, August 04, 2017 07:56 AM EDT | Updated: Friday, August 04, 2017 08:08 AM EDT
BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. — An 8-year-old Florida girl has died five months after she was injured while drinking boiling water through a straw on a dare.
The SunSentinel reports Ki’ari Pope started having trouble breathing Sunday night.
She told her mother’s boyfriend, who called 911.
She was taken to a hospital where she died.
Marquisia Bonner, the child’s 22-year-old mother, says Ki’ari had suffered complications since March when she took the dare from her cousin after they watched a YouTube video where someone appeared to drink boiling water from a straw.
She had emergency surgery on her windpipe to clear scar tissue.
Her mother says a tracheotomy left her with trouble breathing and talking.
Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater says the medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
Ki’ari Pope, 8.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI8cYJqyt0I
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRWA57ZANww
Florida girl, 8, dies months after drinking scalding water on a dare she discove
Death at Burning Man festival after man runs into flames at Man Burn event
Sally Ho, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Sunday, September 03, 2017 07:38 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 03, 2017 11:05 PM EDT
A man rushed past layers of security officers into a massive fire at the Burning Man festival’s signature ceremony, suffering burns that left him dead just hours later.
Authorities are investigating the death of Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, who broke through a two-layer security perimeter during the Man Burn event in which a giant, wooden effigy is set ablaze.
Nevada’s Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated that there was a crowd of about 50,000 people who were present when the festival’s crew of firefighters pulled Mitchell out of the blaze. He was airlifted to the UC Davis hospital burn centre in California, where he died Sunday morning. The sheriff said doctors confirmed Mitchell wasn’t under the influence of alcohol, but a toxicology report is pending.
“We don’t know if it was intentional on his part or if it was just kind of induced by drugs. We’re not sure of that yet,” Allen said.
Mitchell was a U.S. citizen who had a home in Oklahoma but apparently was living in Switzerland with his wife, the sheriff’s office said.
Burning Man said in a statement that they had cancelled burns through noon Sunday but would go ahead with the 8 p.m. temple burn, another signature event that signals the end of the nine-day festival. More than 70,000 people are attending the art and music celebration in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) north of Reno.
Organizers are also offering emotional support counselling on site, saying in a statement: “Now is a time for closeness, contact and community. Trauma needs processing. Promote calls, hugs, self-care, check-ins, and sleep.”
The festival culminates with the burning of a towering 40-foot effigy made of wood, a symbol of rebirth, which usually happens the Saturday before the Labor Day holiday. It’s followed by the burning of a temple on Sunday before the festivities wrap up Monday.
Attempts to rescue Mitchell were hampered because part of the structure was falling while they were trying to get Mitchell out of it, the sheriff’s office said.
“Rescuers had to leave him to allow the structure to fall and provide for rescuer safety before they could go back into the flames to extract Aaron from the debris,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Investigators are having a hard time getting information as festival-goers leave the site for their homes, the law enforcement agency said.
Attendees have tried before to run into the flames while the man is burning and there have been reported injuries from people trying to get a piece of the spectacle as a token and going through the hot coals. Allen said it’s a problem that the organizers have tried to contain by having their own rangers stage a human-chain to prevent people from getting to the fire. Allen said that this is the first time someone has gotten through like this and the only fatality that he’s aware of in his 15 years with the county.
“People try to run into the fire as part of their spiritual portion of Burning Man,” Allen said. “The significance of the man burning, it’s just kind of a rebirth, they burn the man to the ground, a new chapter has started. It’s part of their tenants of radical self-expression.”
Known for eclectic artwork, offbeat theme camps, concerts and other entertainment, Burning Man began in San Francisco before moving to Nevada in 1990. Over the years as the event grew in popularity, deaths and crime have been reported, ranging from car crashes to drug use.
In 2014, a man in Utah died by jumping into a huge ceremonial bonfire in an event that was similar to Burning Man. It was investigated as a suicide.
Death at Burning Man festival after man runs into flames at Man Burn event | Mus
Sally Ho, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Sunday, September 03, 2017 07:38 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 03, 2017 11:05 PM EDT
A man rushed past layers of security officers into a massive fire at the Burning Man festival’s signature ceremony, suffering burns that left him dead just hours later.
Authorities are investigating the death of Aaron Joel Mitchell, 41, who broke through a two-layer security perimeter during the Man Burn event in which a giant, wooden effigy is set ablaze.
Nevada’s Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen estimated that there was a crowd of about 50,000 people who were present when the festival’s crew of firefighters pulled Mitchell out of the blaze. He was airlifted to the UC Davis hospital burn centre in California, where he died Sunday morning. The sheriff said doctors confirmed Mitchell wasn’t under the influence of alcohol, but a toxicology report is pending.
“We don’t know if it was intentional on his part or if it was just kind of induced by drugs. We’re not sure of that yet,” Allen said.
Mitchell was a U.S. citizen who had a home in Oklahoma but apparently was living in Switzerland with his wife, the sheriff’s office said.
Burning Man said in a statement that they had cancelled burns through noon Sunday but would go ahead with the 8 p.m. temple burn, another signature event that signals the end of the nine-day festival. More than 70,000 people are attending the art and music celebration in the Black Rock Desert, about 100 miles (161 kilometres) north of Reno.
Organizers are also offering emotional support counselling on site, saying in a statement: “Now is a time for closeness, contact and community. Trauma needs processing. Promote calls, hugs, self-care, check-ins, and sleep.”
The festival culminates with the burning of a towering 40-foot effigy made of wood, a symbol of rebirth, which usually happens the Saturday before the Labor Day holiday. It’s followed by the burning of a temple on Sunday before the festivities wrap up Monday.
Attempts to rescue Mitchell were hampered because part of the structure was falling while they were trying to get Mitchell out of it, the sheriff’s office said.
“Rescuers had to leave him to allow the structure to fall and provide for rescuer safety before they could go back into the flames to extract Aaron from the debris,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Investigators are having a hard time getting information as festival-goers leave the site for their homes, the law enforcement agency said.
Attendees have tried before to run into the flames while the man is burning and there have been reported injuries from people trying to get a piece of the spectacle as a token and going through the hot coals. Allen said it’s a problem that the organizers have tried to contain by having their own rangers stage a human-chain to prevent people from getting to the fire. Allen said that this is the first time someone has gotten through like this and the only fatality that he’s aware of in his 15 years with the county.
“People try to run into the fire as part of their spiritual portion of Burning Man,” Allen said. “The significance of the man burning, it’s just kind of a rebirth, they burn the man to the ground, a new chapter has started. It’s part of their tenants of radical self-expression.”
Known for eclectic artwork, offbeat theme camps, concerts and other entertainment, Burning Man began in San Francisco before moving to Nevada in 1990. Over the years as the event grew in popularity, deaths and crime have been reported, ranging from car crashes to drug use.
In 2014, a man in Utah died by jumping into a huge ceremonial bonfire in an event that was similar to Burning Man. It was investigated as a suicide.
Death at Burning Man festival after man runs into flames at Man Burn event | Mus
Death of a daredevil
By Brad Hunter, Toronto Sun
First posted: Sunday, September 10, 2017 12:39 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 10, 2017 12:43 PM EDT
In the Erie County Morgue lies the corpse of an unremarkable man who did a remarkable thing.
Kirk Jones has taken up semi-permanent residence on a cold steel slab in Buffalo.
But for a brief, fleeting moment, the schlub from Detroit was a somebody.
In 2003, he did the unthinkable: He went over psychotically dangerous Niagara Falls without any protection — and survived to tell the tale.
Jones told reporters at the time: “I felt like I was being swallowed by a living beast.”
The club who have survived Niagara Falls and the jagged rocks below is tragically small.
Another Michigander, Annie Taylor, was the first to survive the catacombs in 1901, but there have been only a handful of survivors.
Jones’ friends told the Detroit News recently that he was a funny, unassuming man who would give you the shirt off his back.
Daredevil? No. Fame whore? No.
“To survive it the first time is a total accident,” friend Bruce Jurgens told the News. “To try and survive it again is just totally freaking insane.”
Jones did try again but he wouldn’t be so lucky the second time out.
Obsessed since childhood with Niagara Falls, he knew its history, mythology and daredevils well.
Following the 2003 stunt, he never gave a good reason why he did it, Jones enjoyed a kind of micro-celebrity for a time.
Morning shows, Inside Edition and a job with a circus, complete with a gold-sequined suit.
But it didn’t last long and the intervening years found him moving to Oregon with his parents, getting busted for selling drugs and doing five months in the slammer.
Jones married and lived in Florida for a time, but the marriage soured and the call of the famous Falls continued to reverberate in his head.
“It makes no sense. Why would he try it a second time?” friend Jo Anne Buzzerio wondered.
Jones took some precautions with an inflatable rubber craft and for giggles, brought along his 2.1-metre boa constrictor Misty for the ride.
And this time he was going to film the whole spectacle using a drone, something he deeply regretted from the first go-round.
On April 19, the giant empty rubber ball was spotted by tourists floating in the treacherous gorge. Cops found his drone nearby and his 2001 Honda van parked upriver from the Falls.
His ex-wife — a fellow metalhead — feared he had tackled the mighty Niagara again.
But there was no sign of the Detroit daredevil.
Six weeks later, Jones’ bloated corpse was found floating near where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. Investigators aren’t even sure if he got into the ball.
Still, it looked as though the poor man’s Houdini had big plans if his latest Niagara plans had come to fruition.
Detectives later found a website that detailed the man from Michigan’s grandiose vision of a future that wasn’t to be.
The site planned to offer T-shirts with a photo of a smiling Jones, his pet snake and the famous back drop of Niagara Falls.
It read: “Believe in the impossible. KIRK JONES + MISTY conquer Niagara Falls 2017.”
Death of a daredevil | Home | Toronto Sun
Wingsuit skydiver dies in Gatineau jump mishap
The Canadian Press
First posted: Sunday, September 10, 2017 08:43 AM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 10, 2017 09:13 PM EDT
A 27-year-old Ontario skydiver lost his life this weekend after a jump in Gatineau.
The man was unconscious when found by first responders Saturday and was taken to Gatineau hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The victim, whom police have not yet identified, was an experienced wingsuit skydiver who appeared to have technical problems before crashing into a farm on Proulx Road, a few kilometres north of the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport.
He had been taking part in the third annual Rockstar Boogie, a weekend-long event in which participants can perform unconventional jumps. Police have speculated that his parachute may not have deployed properly.
According to Daniel Sévigny, co-owner of Parachute GO Skydive, which hosted the event, the victim was remembered by his colleagues Saturday evening with a minute of silence, a group hug and a singing of one of his favourite songs.
“We’re all a family,” Sévigny said Sunday, “and it’s a very sad time when we lose one of our own. How do you feel when you lose a family member or loved one? It’s the same thing with us.
“You have to know how to push your limits and push them safely, so you keep improving,” he added. “That’s not just about skydiving; that’s about life.
“But this is not the time to be saying how skydiving is safe and things like that. This is a time for the family to grieve.”
Wingsuit skydivers, wearing suits with air-filled webbing under their arms and between their feet, can reach speeds in excess of 300 kilometres an hour and soar more than seven kilometres before deploying their parachutes. The sport was officially recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale governing body at the end of 2014. Two years ago, the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association took it under its administrative purview as an official sport.
In an interview last fall with Postmedia, Ottawa wingsuit skydiver Nick Yu, then a member of Canada’s national team, was careful to describe the sport’s inherent hazards.
“I’m not going to say it’s a non-event, because it happens. I don’t want to say it’s a dangerous sport, but it has risks.”
Worldwide, there have been at least three other wingsuit deaths this year, including that of 28-year-old Canadian Graham Dickinson, who died in January while training in China.
Parachute GO Skydive was involved in an incident two years ago, when 22-year-old instructor Carolyne Breton and a 45-year-old client made a tandem parachute jump together. The pair ended up spiralling to the ground using a reserve parachute, seriously injuring both.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
Wingsuit skydiver dies in Gatineau jump mishap | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
By Brad Hunter, Toronto Sun
First posted: Sunday, September 10, 2017 12:39 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 10, 2017 12:43 PM EDT
In the Erie County Morgue lies the corpse of an unremarkable man who did a remarkable thing.
Kirk Jones has taken up semi-permanent residence on a cold steel slab in Buffalo.
But for a brief, fleeting moment, the schlub from Detroit was a somebody.
In 2003, he did the unthinkable: He went over psychotically dangerous Niagara Falls without any protection — and survived to tell the tale.
Jones told reporters at the time: “I felt like I was being swallowed by a living beast.”
The club who have survived Niagara Falls and the jagged rocks below is tragically small.
Another Michigander, Annie Taylor, was the first to survive the catacombs in 1901, but there have been only a handful of survivors.
Jones’ friends told the Detroit News recently that he was a funny, unassuming man who would give you the shirt off his back.
Daredevil? No. Fame whore? No.
“To survive it the first time is a total accident,” friend Bruce Jurgens told the News. “To try and survive it again is just totally freaking insane.”
Jones did try again but he wouldn’t be so lucky the second time out.
Obsessed since childhood with Niagara Falls, he knew its history, mythology and daredevils well.
Following the 2003 stunt, he never gave a good reason why he did it, Jones enjoyed a kind of micro-celebrity for a time.
Morning shows, Inside Edition and a job with a circus, complete with a gold-sequined suit.
But it didn’t last long and the intervening years found him moving to Oregon with his parents, getting busted for selling drugs and doing five months in the slammer.
Jones married and lived in Florida for a time, but the marriage soured and the call of the famous Falls continued to reverberate in his head.
“It makes no sense. Why would he try it a second time?” friend Jo Anne Buzzerio wondered.
Jones took some precautions with an inflatable rubber craft and for giggles, brought along his 2.1-metre boa constrictor Misty for the ride.
And this time he was going to film the whole spectacle using a drone, something he deeply regretted from the first go-round.
On April 19, the giant empty rubber ball was spotted by tourists floating in the treacherous gorge. Cops found his drone nearby and his 2001 Honda van parked upriver from the Falls.
His ex-wife — a fellow metalhead — feared he had tackled the mighty Niagara again.
But there was no sign of the Detroit daredevil.
Six weeks later, Jones’ bloated corpse was found floating near where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario. Investigators aren’t even sure if he got into the ball.
Still, it looked as though the poor man’s Houdini had big plans if his latest Niagara plans had come to fruition.
Detectives later found a website that detailed the man from Michigan’s grandiose vision of a future that wasn’t to be.
The site planned to offer T-shirts with a photo of a smiling Jones, his pet snake and the famous back drop of Niagara Falls.
It read: “Believe in the impossible. KIRK JONES + MISTY conquer Niagara Falls 2017.”
Death of a daredevil | Home | Toronto Sun
Wingsuit skydiver dies in Gatineau jump mishap
The Canadian Press
First posted: Sunday, September 10, 2017 08:43 AM EDT | Updated: Sunday, September 10, 2017 09:13 PM EDT
A 27-year-old Ontario skydiver lost his life this weekend after a jump in Gatineau.
The man was unconscious when found by first responders Saturday and was taken to Gatineau hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The victim, whom police have not yet identified, was an experienced wingsuit skydiver who appeared to have technical problems before crashing into a farm on Proulx Road, a few kilometres north of the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport.
He had been taking part in the third annual Rockstar Boogie, a weekend-long event in which participants can perform unconventional jumps. Police have speculated that his parachute may not have deployed properly.
According to Daniel Sévigny, co-owner of Parachute GO Skydive, which hosted the event, the victim was remembered by his colleagues Saturday evening with a minute of silence, a group hug and a singing of one of his favourite songs.
“We’re all a family,” Sévigny said Sunday, “and it’s a very sad time when we lose one of our own. How do you feel when you lose a family member or loved one? It’s the same thing with us.
“You have to know how to push your limits and push them safely, so you keep improving,” he added. “That’s not just about skydiving; that’s about life.
“But this is not the time to be saying how skydiving is safe and things like that. This is a time for the family to grieve.”
Wingsuit skydivers, wearing suits with air-filled webbing under their arms and between their feet, can reach speeds in excess of 300 kilometres an hour and soar more than seven kilometres before deploying their parachutes. The sport was officially recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale governing body at the end of 2014. Two years ago, the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association took it under its administrative purview as an official sport.
In an interview last fall with Postmedia, Ottawa wingsuit skydiver Nick Yu, then a member of Canada’s national team, was careful to describe the sport’s inherent hazards.
“I’m not going to say it’s a non-event, because it happens. I don’t want to say it’s a dangerous sport, but it has risks.”
Worldwide, there have been at least three other wingsuit deaths this year, including that of 28-year-old Canadian Graham Dickinson, who died in January while training in China.
Parachute GO Skydive was involved in an incident two years ago, when 22-year-old instructor Carolyne Breton and a 45-year-old client made a tandem parachute jump together. The pair ended up spiralling to the ground using a reserve parachute, seriously injuring both.
bdeachman@postmedia.com
Wingsuit skydiver dies in Gatineau jump mishap | Canada | News | Toronto Sun
Boy, parents die after falling into crater in steamy Italian volcanic field
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 10:40 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 10:45 AM EDT
MILAN — Police in Italy say an 11-year-old boy and his parents died in a steamy volcanic field near Naples that is popular with tourists.
Police said the parents tried to rescue the Italian boy after he entered an off-limits area at the Solfatara Crater in Pozzuoli and slipped Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were overcome by gases or molten lava in the area.
The crater is located in the Phlegraen Fields, a sprawling constellation of ancient volcanic craters frequented by Italian school children and tourists from around the world. The fields are scorching hot only a few inches below the surface.
Geologists monitor the area by checking temperatures and chemically analyzing gases, determining that the fields had risen by about 30 centimetres over a decade.
Rescuers stand on the site where three people reportedly died when they fell into a crater in a steamy volcanic field in Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. Italian news reports say an 11-year-old Italian boy and his parents died in a steamy volcanic field near Naples. ANSA said the parents tried to rescue the boy after he entered an off-limits area at the Solfatara Crater in Pozzuoli, and was overcome by gases, losing consciousness. (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP)
Boy, parents die after falling into crater in steamy Italian volcanic field | Wo
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First posted: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 10:40 AM EDT | Updated: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 10:45 AM EDT
MILAN — Police in Italy say an 11-year-old boy and his parents died in a steamy volcanic field near Naples that is popular with tourists.
Police said the parents tried to rescue the Italian boy after he entered an off-limits area at the Solfatara Crater in Pozzuoli and slipped Tuesday. It wasn’t immediately clear if they were overcome by gases or molten lava in the area.
The crater is located in the Phlegraen Fields, a sprawling constellation of ancient volcanic craters frequented by Italian school children and tourists from around the world. The fields are scorching hot only a few inches below the surface.
Geologists monitor the area by checking temperatures and chemically analyzing gases, determining that the fields had risen by about 30 centimetres over a decade.
Rescuers stand on the site where three people reportedly died when they fell into a crater in a steamy volcanic field in Pozzuoli, near Naples, Italy, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2017. Italian news reports say an 11-year-old Italian boy and his parents died in a steamy volcanic field near Naples. ANSA said the parents tried to rescue the boy after he entered an off-limits area at the Solfatara Crater in Pozzuoli, and was overcome by gases, losing consciousness. (Ciro Fusco/ANSA via AP)
Boy, parents die after falling into crater in steamy Italian volcanic field | Wo