Aaron Schoffstall: Correctional officer, 24, plunges 33ft to death after slipping and falling off bridge
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: A correctional officer plunged to death after slipping on ice and falling over a bridge while he stopped to check on a crash scene with another deputy on their way to work. The incident took place in 2000 when Aaron Schoffstall, 24, fell over the rail of the Wabash River Bridge on State Road 63, according to the Officer Down Memorial page which posts tributes to fallen officers.
The Indiana officer and another deputy stopped at an accident scene near the bridge when they were riding to work on November 28, 2000. Schoffstall slipped on ice and fell off 33 feet to his death while he was investigating the incident. Officials said that it was snowing at the time of the incident. He worked with the Vigo County Sheriff's Department in Indiana for four years prior to his tragic death. He is survived by his wife, daughter, brother and parents.
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Over the years, Schoffstall's family posted several heartbreaking tributes on the memorial page to the officer. "My dearest son, we honored you and your dad yesterday and sent balloons to heaven," his mother wrote in 2020, according to The Sun. "I stood by the cemetery markers, I see the dates, but I still expect you to come through the door & I long to see your smile and hear your voice, but I know that can never happen my son. It has been 20 years today and life does goes on but there is always that empty spot in everything we do." She added, "You & dad would be so proud of the wonderful man your brother is and his daughter is a lot like you were as a kid. Your daughter looks so much like you, it’s simply unbelievable and she also has your dry sense of humor."
Gloria Swayze, who described herself as a "friend for life," remembered the "amazing memories," she had with Schoffstall. "We always had a great time. We had some goofy times and then some deep, heartfelt talks", she wrote. "When you told me you were getting married, you had a look I had never seen. You always had an incredible smile but this was different. You were so happy. I loved it."
Schoffstall's mother-in-law, Gayle Decke, wrote that Schoffstall brought to their lives "a new level of happiness along with our daughter." "He was put in our family by a higher power for sure, we often talked about how we couldn't have hand picked a better husband for our daughter", Decke wrote. "When he passed our hearts were broken. Time does not heal it just fills the space with life without them. Never to see his smile again."