
It was initially believed Victoria Shafer's death was an accident, but investigators soon determined the log that hit her had been pushed or thrown off a cliff at Hocking Hills State Park in Logan.
Shafer, a 44-year-old professional photographer from Chillicothe, Ohio, was taking photographs with five of her students when the log, weighing 74 pounds, fell more than 75 feet off the cliff and struck her as she was sitting on a staircase, Fickel said. She was killed instantly.
"Ohio Department of Natural Resources investigators determined early on that the six-foot log was pushed or thrown off the cliff," he said.
Fickel said Tuesday a tipster called to report one of the juveniles in custody sent text messages to a classmate stating he had done something serious at the park with another juvenile.
Further investigation led to the arrests and admissions from the two boys that "they were involved in forcing the log over the cliff," the prosecutor said. He said both boys were from Logan.
The Chillicothe Gazette reported Shafer, the mother of four children, owned a photography studio and was well known in the community for her contributions to various charitable causes.
"My wife, Victoria, was suddenly and tragically killed on Labor Day, September 2, 2019, while exercising her passion for photography at Hocking Hills State Park," her husband Fritz Shafer said on Facebook Sept 15. "An investigation is pending, and we are searching for answers."



Reader Comments
Naught MSM typ'cal
To change d' story
For d'er heyah glory.
R.C.
Seriously, the woman's husband should sue these two children, so that they will be burdened with debt and have their wages garnished and be unable to own any property, the rest of their natural lives. Then maybe they will serve as an example to their own children and others, to behave responsibly.
I'd figured this out by the time I was 12? And by my tenth high school reunion, THREE of them were on death row; sorry, only two - one (and one evil SOB he PERMANENTLY was) had already been 'put down.'
Sad! Horribly sad.
R.C.