Fall from remote cliff was staged by North Carolina man, Virginia rescuers say

A North Carolina man found precariously trapped on a narrow cliff in Virginia may have staged the fall for reasons still under investigation, according to rescuers.

The Guilford County man “has a history in N.C. of calling in false 911 calls where he claims to be in need of rescue,” the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release posted Saturday, May 3.

Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith reports rescuers became suspicious when the man showed no proof of injuries.

The rescue was mounted around 9:40 p.m. on Monday, April 28, after the suspect called 911 to report “he had fallen 25 feet off of a ledge,” officials said.

“GPS coordinates acquired by the 911 center ... indicated that the call was coming from the Stuart’s Knob area of Fairy Stone State Park. ... Deputies, Fire and EMS personnel were immediately dispatched to the area,” Smith said.

“(The hiker) was found on a ledge and claimed that he was injured and immobile. The first responders attempted to keep him from falling off of the ledge, which (was) an additional 25 foot fall.”

Four deputies, a paramedic and a park ranger quickly worked to stabilize the man, who reported he couldn’t move, officials said.

A team specializing in rope rescue was then called and the members repelled down the ledge, put the man in a basket and raised him off the ledge, the sheriff’s office said.

“While being medically assessed, rescue personnel could find no visible injuries on (the man), who was transported as a precautionary measure to SOVAH Hopital in Martinsville and subsequently released,” the department reported.

When questioned, the man “allegedly admitted that he had not fallen from 25 feet as he originally reported,” Smith said.

“Further investigation shows that (the suspect) has a history in NC of calling in false 911 calls where he claims to be in need of rescue,” the sheriff’s office said. “(He) also claimed that he was a firefighter with the Guilford County, N.C. Fire Department, which ... was false.”

“Valuable resources were wasted, and countless lives were endangered on that night, all because of a lie,” Smith stated in a news release.

An investigation is continuing, and charges “are forthcoming,” the sheriff’s office said.

Fairy Stone State Park is about a 195-mile drive southwest from Richmond.

This story was originally published May 4, 2025 at 5:30 AM.