Rory Lochner: 'Affectionate' teen falls 150ft to his death while exploring High Falls gorge with friends at 2 am
ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: A teenager died after falling 150ft while exploring the High Falls gorge with his friends at 2 am on Thursday, September 1. He was trying to climb through a hole in a fence where the Inner Loop crosses the Genesee River and fell, dying from the impact.
According to The Sun, Rochester Police Lieutenant Greg Bello said, "He was with a group of friends. He had gone into the park area there. Somewhere across the Inner Loop area by the train tracks, and through there, and unfortunately, tragically fell in a hole and fell to his death.”
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The Rochester Fire Department had tried rescuing him with a rope. The department said, “We do a lot more than just fighting fires. We have people who are trained in high angle and low angle rope rescue, which we deal with a lot around the gorge and when people fall down in places.”
However, they were unsuccesful and the teenager was pronounced dead on the scene. Bello said, "Fire department personnel responded, the medical examiner responded, and unfortunately he was beyond help, and passed away from the incident this morning.” The authorities ruled out foul play from the unfortunate incident.
Lieutenant Greg said, "The family that goes along with that 19-year-old lost a son, they lost a brother, lost a cousin. All the different family relationships. But then also, his friends were there with him. And the friends just lost a friend that they witnessed." He continued, "So there's tragedy all around in this aspect, which is really heartbreaking, which is why we're here talking about this today to try to push as much safety around those areas because they are dangerous." Gerg said that signs and fences were used to alert visitors of dangerous areas around the gorge. He also advised visitors stay on a trail and bring a phone in case of an emergency.
Meanwhile, in a GoFundMe post that was set up to pay for his funeral expenses, Rory was described as an affectionate person. The post read, "Rory Lochner tragically passed away september 1st. Rory was known by many, and went out of his way to help anyone in need. This fundraiser is to help his family and cover any needs we can. Anything you can give helps." The fundraiser has raised $7,475, completing its goal of $5,000.