Police: Man Dies In Plunge From Palisades Cliff

A 45-year-old New Jersey man was killed Sunday in a 225-fall from the cliffs along the Hudson River at the Rockefeller Lookout on the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey, according to police.

Lt. Michael Coppola of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police said that as of this morning the investigation has not revealed any suspicious circumstances in the death. The cause of death is being determined by the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The identity of the Spring Lake, NJ, man has not yet been revealed by police because relatives are still being notified of his death.

An investigation of a possible death began around 2 p.m. Sunday, when police were alerted to a walker and walking cane leaning against a railing at the Rockefeller Lookout — located  along the northbound lanes of the Palisades Interstate Parkway in the Englewood Cliffs, NJ, section of the highway. 

An unoccupied vehicle parked in a handicapped space was also located. Police said they made contact with a family member of the car's owner, and at about the same time police suspected someone had fallen from the cliff. 

A trace of the car owner's cell phone showed it was in a stationary position at the base of the cliffs below the Rockefeller Lookout. Police conducted a search of the cliff’s base and located a deceased male approximately 125 feet down from the base of the cliffs, or about 225 feet from the top of the cliff. 

The man had a matching description to the vehicle’s owner.

With the assistance from the Englewood Cliffs Fire Department and the Bergen County Medical Examiner’s Office, the victim was brought down to Henry Hudson Drive and positively identified.