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Georgia local TV news anchor has died after taking a fatal plunge from a waterfall in North Carolina.
Taylor Terrell, an anchor at a Macon, Georgia, TV station
WMGT, was swimming with a friend in the water at the top of Rainbow Falls in Transylvania County, North Carolina, Thursday.
Terrell somehow lost her footing and was swept away by the Horsepasture River current before plummeting 185 feet off Rainbow Falls, authorities say.
In a 911 call obtained by
WLOS, Terrell's panicked friend tells authorities that Terrell seemed to just vanish.
"Hi, I'm at Rainbow Falls. My friend got caught by the current, and I don't know where she is, and I can't find her," the friend said.
Emergency responders were only able to reach the scene on foot and Terrell's body was not discovered for four hours.
The Georgia Southern University grad was set to celebrate her 25th birthday on Friday.
"To say that this loss is devastating for us here at 41NBC and to her family is an understatement. Taylor was scheduled to be off today to celebrate her 25th birthday. Instead, we’re remembering her spirit, her optimism, and her work," WMGT said in a report on the tragedy.
Terrell's was the third death at a waterfall in Transylvania County just since May, Lake Toxaway Deputy Chief Bobby Cooper told reporters.
Rainbow Falls is located in the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains.