An upstate New York woman intentionally jumped into Niagara Falls with her two young children, including a 5-month-old baby, state police said Wednesday.
The incident occurred around 9 p.m. on Monday when officials with the New York State Park Police and New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation were called to an area near Goat Island, between the Bridal Veil and Horseshoe falls.
A subsequent investigation determined that three individuals — 33-year-old Chaianti Means, 9-year-old Roman Rossman and 5-month-old Mecca Means, all of Niagara Falls, N.Y. — had gone over a safety guardrail and “went over Niagara Falls on Luna Island,” located off the north side of Goat Island.
The woman has been described as the mother of the two kids, according to multiple local reports. New York State Trooper James O’Callaghan said the family of the victims is cooperating with investigators.
While the circumstances surrounding the suspected jump remain under investigation, authorities believe the incident was “intentional in nature,” according to New York State Police Major Stanley J. Edwards, III.
Search-and-rescue teams — including park police unmanned aircraft and marine patrol, and NYSP’s aviation and underwater recovery units — are working to locate the three victims. Recovery efforts had so far been unsuccessful, Edwards said in a Wednesday morning update.
The Niagara Falls Police Department and Niagara Charter Schools are also assisting in the investigation, officials said. The incident doesn’t pose a safety threat to the public.
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