3-year-old survives fall from cliff that kills his mother

PORTLAND – A 3-year-old boy survived a 50-foot fall at a popular Oregon hiking trail that killed his 37-year-old mother.

Multnomah County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Alexander says deputies responded late Sunday afternoon after learning that two hikers had fallen off a cliff at Horsetail Falls along the Columbia River Gorge.

The woman and the boy fell about 50 feet and then tumbled another 20 to 30 feet down a slope.

The woman was brought up to the trailhead, but died at the scene. The medical examiner’s office identified her as Stephanie Cohen of Portland.

An ambulance took her son to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. Alexander described the boy’s injuries as serious.