Demarest man plunges to death from State Line Lookout in Alpine

UPDATE: What authorities at first hoped could be a rescue mission turned to a recovery after a 57-year-old suicidal Demarest man plunged to his death from the Palisades in Alpine earlier today.

Jerry DeMarco

01/31/2015 11:45 p.m.

Palisades Interstate Parkway Officers Joseph Villone and Michael Griffin discovered the man’s white Lexus, which he’d left running, on an access road to the State Line Lookout after they were alerted by their Demarest colleagues around 11 a.m., PIP Police Chief Michael Coppola said.

CLIFFVIEW PILOT PHOTO: Rafael Lozano

Footprints led directly to the edge of a cliff, he said.

After several hours in frigid temperatures, the body was recovered, the chief said.

Responders included the East Bergen Rappel Team, Closter Rescue and a boat from the Piermont Fire Department.

“[T]here is no reason to believe that anyone other than the victim was involved,” Coppola said.

PHOTOS (TOP, ABOVE): Courtesy PIP PD

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