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(Update) Briar Cliff student dies in Arkansas park accident

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April 15th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

(Radio Iowa) — A student at Briar Cliff University in Sioux City has died in an accident in Arkansas. Newton County Arkansas Sheriff Glenn Wheeler says 20-year-old Andrea Norton died after she accidentally fell Saturday from a rock formation near Jasper, about 101 miles northwest of Little Rock. Norton is from Hot Springs, South Dakota and was a member of the Briar Cliff volleyball team.

University President Rachelle Karstens posted a message asking for prayers for Norton, her family and students struggling with the loss of their friend, classmate and teammate. Sheriff Wheeler says Norton was with a group of students from Sioux City, and was reportedly re-positioning herself for a photo when she fell about 100 feet off the Hawksbill Crag. The area is a popular hiking destination within the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest.

Wheeler says the crag is widely considered one of Arkansas’ most-photographed hiking areas, and several people have died in falls there in recent year