Local News in Brief : Tujunga Man, 22, Loses Footing, Dies in Fall

Authorities on Sunday identified a man who fell to his death during a fishing trip in the Angeles National Forest as John Dayton Cosper, 22, of Tujunga.

The victim and his girlfriend, Teresa Ann Wholey, 20, also of Tujunga, had stopped at a turnout on the Angeles Forest Highway south of the Hidden Springs bridge shortly before the accident occurred about 4 p.m. Saturday, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Kathryn Nielsen.

Cosper was following Wholey down a steep cliff to a creek 300 feet below the turnout when he lost his footing and fell, Nielsen said. Wholey climbed back to the turnout, several miles north of Pasadena, and called for help.

Deputies from the Montrose Search and Rescue team used ropes and climbing equipment to bring Cosper’s body up from the canyon floor, Nielsen said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.