Coroner identifies Arizona woman who jumped from bypass bridge
A troubled woman left a behavioral counselling meeting in Tempe, Ariz., Friday morning and took a taxi more than 280 miles to the Nevada border, where she committed suicide by jumping from the Hoover Dam bypass bridge.
The Clark County coroner’s office identified the woman Monday as 42-year-old Heather Papayoti.
According to Officer Michael Pooley with Tempe police, Papayoti had a history of wanting to commit suicide. The Phoenix, Ariz., woman’s mother reported her missing about noon on Friday.
Papayoti jumped from the Mike O’Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge between 4:30 and 5 p.m. Friday, Las Vegas police said.
Officers arrived on the scene at 6:15 p.m. and began searching for the woman. Papayoti’s body was recovered from the Colorado River, 900 feet below the bridge, Saturday morning.
Contact reporter Kimber Laux at klaux@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0391.
