Spokane Woman Killed In Fall From Cliff At Crater Lake Park

CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK, Ore. - An Eastern Washington woman was killed in a 700-foot fall from a cliff overlooking Crater Lake, park officials say.

The body of 33-year-old Della Marie Zielinski of Mead, a Spokane suburb, was recovered early yesterday.

Park Superintendent Robert Benton said the accident occurred about 3:30 p.m. Friday at Discovery Point, on the lake's west side.

Benton said it took most of the night for park rangers and ambulance crews to recover the body because of the steep terrain. The body had to be lowered from the cliff onto the lake and brought by boat to Cleetwood Cove on the lake's north side.

Benton said Zielinski's three children witnessed the fall. They were identified as Jeremy, 16, John, 7, and Brittany, 5. The circumstances of the fall were being investigated.

The rim of the caldera, or crater-like basin of the ancient Mount Mazama, is unstable beyond designated viewpoints overlooking Crater Lake.

Park officials said the fatality was not the first of its type at the park. However, they could not recall the most recent accident.

A 14-year-boy from Delaware died in a 600-foot fall July 4, 1977, below Crater Lake Lodge. A 26-year-old Californian died Sept. 11, 1976, when he leaped 600 feet from the Sinnott Memorial Outlook to his

death.