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The boy, now identified as Chappaqua resident Mattias Edstrom, fell about 300 feet down ice-covered ledges In the Town of Hunter, according to authorities. Edstrom was the son of Town of New Castle Supervisor Ivy Pool.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 29 in the Indian Head Wilderness area of the Catskill State Park near a popular ice climbing location known as the "Dark Side" off of Platte Clove Road, Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said.
Mattias Edstrom, a sixth-grade student at Robert Bell Middle School, had been ice climbing with a group which included his father, two other children ages 13 and 15, and three other adults, according to Kusminsky.
As they were walking out on a portion of a trail that was equipped with a hand line, he lost his footing, slipped and fell, Kusminsky said.
Forest Rangers were able to get down to the scene where he was found dead. A determination was then made that it would be too dangerous to attempt to extricate the victim in the darkness, said Kusminsky.
A team of Forest Rangers proceeded in at 9 a.m. Sunday, March 1 to recover the body. At approximately 4:30 p.m., the body was recovered and taken to Ellis Hospital Morgue pending an autopsy.
The investigation is continuing.
Robert Bell Middle School Principal Martin Fitzgerald said counselors would be available for students and staff members on Monday, March 2.
"Mattias was a brilliant, kind and loving young man," Fitzgerald said. "We are all so profoundly sad to have lost him and our thoughts are with his family."
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