The Brief
- Police say 19-year-old Leah Palmirotto died after falling from a five-story abandoned building on Emory’s Briarcliff campus.
- Investigators believe the group entered by climbing a fence, and the cause of the fall remains under investigation.
- Her father is urging young people to avoid abandoned buildings and hopes her death was instantaneous and painless.
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. – A DeKalb County father is urging young people to stay out of abandoned buildings after his 19-year-old daughter died while exploring a fenced-off property on Emory University’s campus last week.
Police said Leah Palmirotto was checking out the vacant Briarcliff Road building with friends Friday morning when she fell from the five-story structure. The site is widely known as a filming location for the Netflix series “Stranger Things.” Security is now guarding the area.
Family photos of 19-year-old Leah Palmirotto show the young woman whose father says she “was perfect.” (FOX 5 Atlanta obtained permission from the rights holder)
Deadly fall at Emory’s Briarcliff campus
What we know:
DeKalb County police say the fatal fall happened shortly before 1 a.m. Friday at a vacant building on Emory University’s Briarcliff campus near North Decatur Road. Officers said Palmirotto was part of a group that had been exploring the abandoned five-story structure when she fell and was pronounced dead at the scene.…