Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

California woman identified as bypass bridge jumper

The Hoover Dam Bridge Dedication

Justin M. Bowen

Plaques line the pedestrian walkway on the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

First suicide on Hoover Dam bypass bridge

KSNV coverage of the first reported suicide on the bypass bridge of the Hoover Dam, April 9, 2012.

The woman who jumped to her death from the Hoover Dam bypass bridge Saturday night has been identified by the Clark County coroner’s office as Patricia Oakley, a 60-year-old resident of San Jose, Calif.

Hoover Dam police encountered Oakley about 9 p.m. Saturday on the pedestrian walkway of the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge and attempted to dissuade her before she jumped, a Bureau of Reclamation spokeswoman said.

The woman’s body was recovered Sunday morning from the Colorado River, the spokeswoman said.

Oakley’s death has been ruled a suicide by the Coroner’s Office. It is the first known suicide at the bridge since it opened in October 2010.

The 1,900-foot-long bypass bridge is downstream of the Hoover Dam, where it spans the Black Canyon. It is the country’s second-highest bridge. Metal railing runs most of the length of the Hoover Dam side of the pedestrian walkway, which sits 900 feet above the Colorado River.

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