Man Dies After Falling Nearly 50 Feet At Starved Rock

OGLESBY, IL — A 30-year-old Bradley man died Saturday after falling 48 feet from the Council Overhang at Starved Rock State Park, conservation police said. It's the second death since July at the state park.

Illinois Conservation Police said Daniel King was working on a film crew with six friends when he fell from the Council Overhang around 10 a.m. Saturday, according to the Kane County Chronicle.

Police told the Chronicle that King was the father of two children, a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old who marked a birthday on Sunday.

King fell nearly 50 feet to the sandstone floor of the ravine below Council Overhang after reportedly leaving the trail to film a shot.

The overhang, at the east end of the park, was used as a Native American gathering place for hundreds of years, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

King was reportedly working on a short film with Glass Darkly Films, which had a permit to film at the park.

King's death was the second fatality this year at the park. In July, a 31-year-old Michigan man attending a wedding at Starved Rock fell more than 30 feet to his death from a bluff behind the lodge's Great Hall.

In 2017, a 24-year-old Indiana man also fell to his death at the park after slipping and plunging 60 feet into Pontiac Canyon.