Woman dies in 50-foot fall down hidden well when floor collapses, SC official says

An 83-year-old woman died after she fell nearly 50 feet through the kitchen floor into a hidden well under the home, a South Carolina coroner said.

The woman was identified as Dorothy Louise Downey of Salem in a news release from Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis.

Downey was helping her daughter move out of a home near Salem the afternoon of Nov. 26, Addis said in the Nov. 27 release.

Property records showed the home was over 100 years old. And underneath the home, unknown to the family, was a hidden well shaft, according to Addis.

The floor in the kitchen had weakened over time, the coroner said. At around 2 p.m. when Downey was in the room, the floor gave way, and she fell 48 feet down the well to her death.

“I have not had a death like this occur in my 31-year career as Oconee County coroner,” Addis said, according to WYFF.

It took nearly four hours for the Salem Fire Department and Oconee County Emergency Services to pull her from the well, which had a small pool of water at the bottom, according to the coroner.

An autopsy conducted the next day revealed she died of blunt force injuries sustained in the fall.

Her death was classified as accidental.

Salem is a small town in Upstate South Carolina about 140 miles northwest of Columbia.

This story was originally published November 28, 2023 at 10:46 AM with the headline "Woman dies in 50-foot fall down hidden well when floor collapses, SC official says."