Woman and children crossed safety rail, went over Niagara Falls, New York police say

A woman and two children, a 9-year-old and a baby, disappeared after they crossed over a safety rail and went over Niagara Falls in New York, state police said.

The evening of Oct. 28, state and park police responded to the incident at Goat Island and launched an investigation, as well as search and rescue efforts, according to an Oct. 30 news release.

The woman and children haven’t been found as of the afternoon of Oct. 30, police said. She was the mother of both children, state police public information officer James O’Callaghan told McClatchy News on Oct. 30.

They are presumed to be dead, O’Callaghan said. He added that recovery efforts are in “effect using multiple different resources.”

The family was on Luna Island, which is a part of Goat Island, where they passed a safety rail and went into the waterfall, according to authorities.

The investigation has revealed this was an “intentional” incident, police said.

“The circumstances remain under investigation,” police said in the news release, and added that there is “no public threat to safety.”

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.