A mother and her two young children have died after going over the 200-foot-tall Niagara Falls.
Chaianti Means, 33, and her kids Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means, 5 months old, climbed over a safety guard rail on Monday night and went over the waterfall around Luna Island, according to New York State Police.
Members of the state police, New York State Park Police and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation responded around 9pm to the area around Goat Island, which is attached to Luna Island.
‘The investigation has determined that this incident was intentional in nature, though the circumstances remain under investigation,’ stated the agency on Wednesday.
Search and rescue efforts were unsuccessful.
‘This incident deems no public threat to safety,’ said state police.
Luna Island has a popular overlook spot over the falls and is located between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
The mother and her kids were residents of Niagara Falls.
Chaianti’s LinkedIn profile stated that she was a domestic violence counselor.
She was reportedly a mother-of-three. Her third child’s whereabouts were not immediately known.
Chianti’s friends expressed sorrow over their deaths on Facebook, according to the Daily Mail.
‘I can’t even bare to write a post about her and share memories,’ wrote Mich Molina.
‘I am literally sick to my stomach and I can’t even deal with the emotions I am feeling. Just know her and her children are dearly loved by me and my children.’
Niesha Eukeya wrote: ‘You really never know what anybody is going through….RIP.’
An investigation is being conducted with assistance from the state park police unmanned aircraft systems and marine patrol, the state police aviation underwater recovery unity, Niagara Falls Police Department and Niagara Charter Schools.
It happened more than a year-and-a-half after a 34-year-old mother went over Goat Island railing and jumped with her five-year-old son off a 90-foot cliff into the frozen Niagara Falls. The Illinois mom died in the apparent suicide attempt, while the boy survived and was in critical condition.
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