ST. GEORGE — A 17-year-old girl is dead after falling nearly 100 feet from a ledge inside the Bloomington Caves, a popular recreation site on the southwest side of St. George.
Kiley Jaquays of Plain Field, Ill., died from injuries sustained from the fall, which occurred about 12:20 p.m. Tuesday, Washington County Sheriff Kirk Smith said.
The girl was with a group of 15 students and five counselors from Integrity House, a residential treatment program for teens located in Cedar City. Several of the students and counselors witnessed the fall, he said.
"They were a ways in the cave when she stumbled and fell off a ledge," Smith said. "They tried to do CPR on her, but she was in full arrest."
Calls for help could not be made until someone hiked out to the cave's opening, he added.
Rescuers worked much of the day to bring Jaquays' body out of the extensive and narrow cave system. Smith said Jaquays' death is the first fatality that he knows about in the caves, although search and rescue workers did rescue another fallen teen there earlier this year.
"It's a dangerous place," Smith said.
A man who answered the telephone at Integrity House Wednesday said no one could comment on the accident.
A Web site for the residential program says Integrity House offers programs for teenage girls ages 12 to 17 who are wrestling with emotional problems, substance abuses, mood, conduct or learning disorders and other difficulties.
Treatment programs are limited to 14 girls and typically last six to 12 months. The site states that residents work with a staff of trained and licensed therapists and other professionals.