Last week, we looked at occurrences at Lover’s Leap from 1915 through 1938; this week we will cover from the forties to the present. It is sad to think that so many tragedies have occurred at such a beautiful place, but there have been some humorous episodes too. We will start with one of those (although I am sure my great-grandmother did not think it was funny)!
Three of my grandfather’s brothers were traveling up the mountain in a pickup when an argument broke out between two of them. The boys decided to pull over at the Lover’s Leap wayside to fight it out. While the two “warriors” were duking it out, the other brother went up in the woods for a minute. Unbeknownst to the fighting pair, a county deputy pulled up to observe the battle. When the third brother emerged from the woods to see his brothers being placed into the back of the police car, he yelled, “Hey fellows, wait for me!”
On the third of March 1942, the Danville Bee reported that snow had completely blocked highway 58 at Lover’s Leap. Winds were recorded at eighty miles per hour, and it snowed for twelve hours. These harsh winds resulted in snow drifting fifteen feet high at Lover’s Leap and children spending the night at Meadows of Dan Elementary School.
On the 23rd of February 1953, the Roanoke Times reported that Lonzo Garnett Puckett died that morning when his car plunged down the mountainside near Lover’s Leap. A passing motorist noticed marks on the highway indicating a car might have gone over the side. Upon investigating, he saw Mr. Puckett’s body about sixty feet down the mountain and the car another eighty feet past the victim.
One of the saddest occurrences was reported in the Danville Bee on July 5th, 1956. Jerry Ray Barber, the four-year-old son of Thomas Harding Barber of Avalon Drive in Danville was having his picture taken at Lover’s Leap when he suddenly turned and ran into the side of a moving car driven by a Patrick Springs man. The little boy died in the Stuart Hospital about thirty minutes after the accident happened. According to Trooper W. D. Jordan, the Barber family was having a Fourth of July picnic at Lover’s Leap and the mother had just released the little boy’s hand so she could take his picture.
The February 7th, 1958, edition of the Martinsville Bulletin reported that a 23-year-old woman from Indiana was killed when the car she was riding in plunged fifty down the embankment at Lover’s Leap. The victim’s husband explained that he was driving the car and missed the road because of a thick fog. Mrs. Mabel Margaret Whitecotton of Terre Haute died from her legs being pinned and the front seat of the car pushing against her throat; she was survived by her husband and two children.
Harvey Dickerson Williams’ body was found in March 1960 near the base of Lover’s Leap. News reports claimed that Williams’ body was found only feet from where his father’s body was found thirty years before. Emmette Green Conner’s body was also discovered near Williams; both men had frozen to death.
In May of 1964, Charles Wendell Culwell from Dallas, Texas walked away unhurt from his single engine plane when it crashed at the foot of Lover’s Leap Mountain. Culwell said he got caught in a fog and thought that he was in a broad valley. When he saw through the fog, he realized he was hemmed in by hills and couldn’t gain altitude quickly enough to get over the mountain; he crashed into a clump of trees.
The Danville Register reported on July 13th, 1966, about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of a 32-year-old Stuart man when his body was discovered about fifty feet from the wreckage of a 1962 Ford Thunderbird which had plunged over 500 feet down the mountainside at Lover’s Leap. Authorities said there was no indication of speed at the time of the accident and the car had missed the retaining wall that would have prevented the plunge down the cliff.
In December of 1966, two Martinsville men were found guilty of an insurance fraud scheme that claimed the life of the 32-year-old man mentioned above. The two men were charged with pushing or arranging to have pushed the car down Lover’s Leap last July to collect insurance. According to the Danville Register, the 32-year-old Stuart man accidentally went over the cliff with the car as he helped push it over the edge.
In May of 1970, Kenneth Gibbon, a young man from Virginia Beach, had climbed over the wall to descend Lover’s Leap Mountain when he apparently tripped and could not regain his balance. He subsequently tumbled 600-700 feet down the mountain. Cheryl Sutphin recounts her husband Glen’s experience as he came along Lover’s Leap overlook: “My husband was the first one to him. He was coming home to Martinsville from his parents’ home on Buffalo Mountain Road. Gibbon’s friend flagged Glen down and Glen told the friend to go call for help (no cell phones back then). Glen then went down the mountain by sliding from one tree to the other, until he reached Gibbon. After he reached him and assessed his injuries, he took his jacket off and put it over Gibbon. Glen talked to him until the rescue squad could hike in from the foot of the mountain. When the EMT’s got there and took over, Glen had to find a less steep place to climb back up the mountain to his car. When he got home, he was so shaken up and worried about the kid, afraid he might not make it. I remember Glen was so tired and sore for a few days. About a year later, Gibbon came back to visit and look over where he fell.”
The remaining numerous newspaper reports were found in various Virginia Chronicle links on the Library of Virginia website. On Sunday, August 6, 1972, a 1963 Chevrolet was found over the mountainside at Lover’s Leap. Investigation revealed that the vehicle, which was 450 feet down the mountain, had all of the doors closed, and no one was found inside. A thorough search of the area failed to yield any evidence of a driver or passenger. The car was reportedly stolen on August 5th, 1972, from a Blacksburg parking lot.
Two weeks later, on Monday, August 21st, 1972, two vehicles went off the mountain at Lover’s Leap. A 1972 Chevrolet Camper Home towing a 1969 Volkswagen had stopped at the overlook to check the tow bar that was pulling the Volkswagen and to check the motor on the camper. The driver was outside when the vehicles started to move, and the passenger immediately jumped from the vehicle just before it started over the mountainside. The emergency brakes, apparently, were not set when the driver left the vehicle. The camper stopped an estimated 350-400 feet down the mountain and the Volkswagen continued some 50 to 100 feet further. It took Stanley Chevrolet wreckers more than 14 hours to bring the wreckage back up to the overlook.
A year later, on the 12th of September 1973, a 1968 Plymouth was found burning fifty feet below the Lover’s Leap overlook. The vehicle was later reported stolen from Ridgeway. On September 24th, 1976, a young woman from Meadows of Dan was killed when the car in which she was a passenger crashed into the Lover’s Leap Tavern (later known as the Henriedda’s Bird House).
On April 11th, 1979, a Cadillac was discovered approximately 230 feet down Lover’s Leap wayside. The vehicle was reported stolen from Eden, North Carolina. Trooper Meade stated that the vehicle was apparently run over the mountain deliberately.
On the 18th of January 1989, four people were traveling through the area on their way to West Virginia, when they decided to stop at the Lover’s Leap overlook. A member of the group spotted a human body about twelve feet down the embankment at the overlook with his hands tied behind his back, and his head and shoulders covered with a plastic bag. Hung Van Vuong was identified at the scene by information found in the wallet in his pocket. Vuong was last seen on Tuesday, January the 10th, when he drove away from his part-time job at the Wilderness Road Truck Stop on Pepper’s Ferry Road in Wytheville; he was also a full-time employee of Morton Thiokol. Vuong had escaped from Vietnam and relocated with his wife and four children to Wytheville and became a naturalized citizen.
Less than two weeks later, on the first of February 1989, Virginia State Police and a tracking dog were looking for further evidence in the murder of Mr. Vuong when a human skull was discovered. The skull was discovered only 200 yards east of where Vuong’s body was found; it was sent to the Medical Examiner’s office in Roanoke. The skull was determined to be from a man 20-30 years of age and had been there on the mountain for several years.
In 2018, the body of a Ridgeway man that had been missing for over a month was discovered at the bottom of Lover’s Leap overlook several hundred feet below where VDOT employees first discovered his vehicle.
After all this sadness, we will close on a happy note. In 1987, Fred Clifton Park at Lover’s Leap wayside was opened. The 72 acres of land was purchased and donated by Carolyn and “Bill” Franck, who was chairman and chief executive officer of Tultex Corporation in Martinsville. “It’s hard to put into words what Mr. Clifton means to Patrick County and this whole area,” Franck said. “A list of his accomplishments and contributions wouldn’t do him justice. His spirit and his manner have meant as much as his deeds.” Fortunately, 90-year-old Clifton was able to attend the dedication and shared some thoughts, “”My grandfather and grandmother Clifton lived in a log-bodied cabin not too far from Lover’s Leap…. I’m a product of the air, soil, and water of Patrick County.”
Thank you to Shirlien Belcher, Eileen Boyd, Glen Sutphin, Cheryl Sutphin, George Turner, and Sheila Turner for their contributions to this story. Woody may be reached at rockcastlecreek1@gmail.com or (276) 692-9626.
