The state medical examiner did an autopsy today on the body of a man whose car went off a cliff yesterday afternoon in Council Bluffs. Police Sergeant Jerry Mann says it happened at Fairmount Park, in the center of town.
Police interviewed two people who saw what happened. The area of the park is called Lookout Point, and the witnesses tell police the man backed up into a parking lot, revved up his engine several times, and then drove off Lookout Point. They called police, who found the smashed car with the dead man inside at the foot of the cliff about 4-30 Wednesday afternoon.
The sergeant says the man had to get over a curb and bent barricade poles as he went off the cliff, and it clearly was no accident. It’s an overlook, the cop says, of the west end of Council Bluffs all the way to the river. He says you can even see a couple of miles into Omaha, adding “It’s a very beautiful view.”
Crews spent hours hauling the wrecked car up the steep cliff with ropes, as the land at the foot of the steep dropoff is undeveloped and has no roads nearby. “We don’t believe that it was an accident and
we don’t believe that there was any foul play involved.” Sergeant Mann says they’ve identified the man but are having trouble having relatives to notify before they make his name public. Mann says fewer people use the park in winter, but people will drive up to the high spot for the nice view.