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Authorities have identified Fairlawn resident Autumn Nicole Draper - also known as Nikki Koert - as the person who was killed in Giles County over the weekend after falling to her death inside a cave in Staffordsville outside of Pearisburg.
First responders in the area were called to the cave, and Draper was ultimately found and extricated from the cave by rescue personnel using "specialized resources."
The 911 call came in at around 4:15 p.m. on Friday, but her body was not recovered and the scene cleared until around 1 a.m. on Saturday, Jan.. 13.
On Facebook, Draper's brother penned a touching post promising to take care of her young family now that she is gone.
Other tributes also came flooding in on social media once officials confirmed Draper's death.
It remains unclear what caused the woman to fall to her death. The incident remains under investigation.
Virginia is home to more than 4,000 caves, according to officials, in more than 27 counties in the western portion of the state. There are no commercial caves listed in Giles County.
"Humans are presently the largest animals which visit Virginia caves," says the state energy department in a pamphlet on geology and mineral resources.
"We have used caves for shelter, religious purposes, moonshine production, mining of saltpetre, groundwater, scientific and educational research, recreation, and as commercial attractions."
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