Two men drown a week apart jumping from same bridge, California officials say

Two men died a week apart after jumping off the same bridge in California, according to authorities.

On Aug. 20, Aurdie Raheem Murphy, 21, from North Carolina, jumped off the Wagon Creek Bridge into Lake Siskiyou near Mount Shasta and didn’t resurface, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Murphy’s body was found the next morning, officials said.

On Friday, James David Vanaltena, 29, of Weed, also jumped off the bridge and didn’t come back up, according to authorities. The next morning, his body was found at the bottom of the lake.

Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue told SFGATE that the drownings aren’t being investigated as suicides and that witnesses saw both men “repeatedly jump from the bridge.”

In both cases, people tried to rescue Vanaltena and Murphy, and Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office deputies looked in the area in boats and on land but couldn’t find the men.

“These are two heartbreaking events that will impact many lives. We send our sincere condolences to the friends and families of Mr. Murphy and Mr. Vanaltena,” the news release stated.

Officials said it’s “unlawful and extremely dangerous” to climb on or jump off the Wagon Creek Bridge and that it’s especially dangerous because of the lower water level making the bridge “much higher off the water than normal.”

This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 2:37 PM with the headline "Two men drown a week apart jumping from same bridge, California officials say."