Texas Woman Dies in Fall at ʻOheʻo Gulch

ʻOheʻo Gulch in East Maui region of Kīpahulu. File photo by Wendy Osher.

By Wendy Osher

A visitor suffered fatal injuries after falling 15 feet down a ledge at ʻOheʻo Gulch in East Maui on Thursday afternoon.

Maui police have since identified the woman as Cheryl Black, 55, of McKinney, Texas.

The incident was reported at 5:32 p.m. on Thursday, June 12, 2014, at one of the lower pools at ʻOheʻo Gulch, makai of the Hāna Highway in Kīpahulu.

According to department reports, firefighters arriving on scene found the woman laying unconscious, halfway in the water, with CPR in progress by bystanders.

Maui Fire Services Chief Lee Mainaga said the woman was airlifted from the pools to a landing zone near the Haleakalā National Park campgrounds, where medics took over patient care.

Officials say efforts to resuscitate the woman were unsuccessful, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Mainaga, the woman was on a narrow ledge, trying to get to another pool when she fell.  Police say an investigation reveals that the victim fell down the ledge and onto rocks below.

The case has been classified as a miscellaneous accident and the cause of death is unknown pending autopsy results.

Crews responding to the scene included Engine 7 out of Hāna, Rescue 10 out of Kahului, the fire department’s Air 1 helicopter, medics, and Maui police.

In April of last year, a 52-year-old Maui man died after falling 12-feet into a pond at the Pools of ‘Ohe’o; and in August of 2013, a 38-year-old man from California died after being found and pulled from the water at the site.