Grad Student Dies in Cliff Fall While Posing for Photo

Tragedy in San Diego, as a 25-year-old grad student lost her footing on a cliff and fell to her death while posing for a photo to be shot by her sister, reports the Chicago Tribune. Bachman was a Berkeley grad who was working toward a master's in urban planning and policy at the University of Illinois. "She backed up too far and lost her balance and fell down the cliff," says a police officer. The area, near Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, is marked by signs reading "Danger, Unstable Cliffs—Stay Back," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

Bachman fell about 125 feet. "There were two nurses that hustled down the cliff and began CPR and first aid—as well as a couple of surfers, to my understanding—and they did their best, but it just wasn't meant to be," says the officer. Bachman, a California native who was visiting family on a break, would have turned 26 on Thursday. (More cliff stories.)