Husband of woman killed in Ice Rock fall commits suicide

Just more than a month after his wife died in a fall at Ice Rock by the Blue Ridge Parkway, a Roanoke, Va. man apparently committed suicide by jumping from the Roanoke River Bridge — another parkway facility.

According to a July 12 release from the National Park Service, fishermen found the body of 54-year-old Dennis Stoneburner along the river bank just below the bridge on the evening of July 2. Evidence indicated that he jumped from the 170-foot-high bridge.

It was Stoneburner who reported that his wife, 52-year-old Karen Stoneburner, had fallen off a cliff at Ice Rock May 31. She fell 80 feet to her death, the release said.

Dennis Stoneburner told rangers that he left his wife at Ice Rock for a short period of time and was unable to find her when he returned. After a brief search, he noticed what appeared to be her body at the bottom of the cliff; he said he then went to get assistance.

Mrs. Stoneburner's May 31 death has been under investigation, first by District Ranger James "Brent" Pennington. Pennington later turned the investigation over to John Garrison, the park service's law enforcement/protection specialist.

The release indicated that the park service and the FBI are investigating Karen Stoneburner's death and that the park service and Roanoke County police are investigating Dennis Stoneburner's death.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back