Zeynep Barnes, 25, of the 100 block of South 32nd Street, fell into an 18-inch-wide gap between the Walnut Street Parking Garage and the building known as 30 North Third Street Building that houses a Wachovia bank branch.

Barnes had been out drinking at several West Shore bars and bars along Second Street with a group of friends, who are rock climbers, in the hours before the accident, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said.

Barnes is the second woman to fall to her death from a downtown building after a night of drinking in the last three weeks.

Reed said police continue to investigate Barnes' death but said he did not expect criminal charges to be filed.

"We're destroyed -- in shambles," said David Barnes, Zeynep's father. "She, we thought, was a rising star."

Barnes graduated from Skidmore College, majoring in business, where she also played soccer. She had an internship in China while at Skidmore and learned to speak Mandarin Chinese.

Barnes worked for Carlisle SynTec as a risk analyst and was working on her master's degree at Shippensburg, her father said.

"It's a tragic accident involving alcohol and what I would call daredevil behavior," Reed said.

The group, consisting of Barnes and four others, made a habit of going to the top of the 11-story parking garage and the bank building at night to look at the city and the surrounding area, Reed said.

Barnes, a 1998 graduate of Camp Hill High School, slipped while jumping from the bank building to the parking garage and fell into the gap between the buildings, authorities said.

Her friends searched for her for several minutes and then called police when they could not find her, police said.

Reed said several of Barnes' friends left the scene after the accident, but were brought back for questioning.

The bank building is about 6 feet taller than the garage. Reed said the group stood on a ledge of the garage and pulled themselves up onto the bank building, but decided to leave after several minutes because of the cold wind.

City firefighters said Barnes was still barely alive when they removed a section of the wall on the first floor of the garage to rescue her. She died moments after being pulled from the wall. An autopsy is scheduled for this week.

A series of metal spikes line two sides of the top of the garage to keep birds off the building. There is nothing to keep people from climbing to the bank building.

Reed said police were not aware of people trying to climb to the bank building until Barnes' accident.

"It was a new one for me," Reed said. "I had never heard about anything like this until this morning.

Reed said the city parking authority is examining ways to seal off the space between the buildings as well as ways to keep people from climbing onto the bank building.

The top of the garage is a popular spot for photographers, said Brandy Miller, 24, of East Pennsboro Twp., who was on top of the building after yesterday's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"You can see everything from up here," said Miller, who had not heard of Barnes' death.

The view includes the Susquehanna River, Cumberland County and the cooling towers at Three Mile Island.

Barnes was involved in rock climbing when she was younger. She was a regular at Climbnasium in Cumberland County, where she competed in indoor climbing contests. She also was involved in rock climbing while in college.

"Any publicity to keep others from doing the same thing would help us," David Barnes said.

Staff writer Irvin Kittrell III contributed to this report. JOE ELIAS: 249-2006 or jelias@patriot-news.com

Submitted on 03/20/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: Patriot-News 03/20/06

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Yep, THIS one's a keeper. Another example of an individual who has all of the superficial smarts (business school, &c &c) but draws a goose egg in the common sense department. I suppose if one can climb a rock, after a few beers one can leap tall buildings in a single bound! A good thing she didn't try and wrassle a locomotive or outrun a speeding bullet, but that's a moot point now...!

Sheryl said:
Neutral: Darwin Award
There's more information in this one. The first version of the story I read didn't make clear whether Barnes had any rock climbing experience. Now we know she had and she should have known better.

Jorge said:
Definitely Toss: Too Common

Charles said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
And she worked as a risk analyst? Hmm...

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