67-year-old leaps across Devils Churn chasm, but slips to his death in roiling ocean
A California man who died Thursday after leaping across a narrow gap in the Devils Churn on the Oregon coast made an “innocent mistake,” a bystander says.
“It looks like you can jump across, but the other side is steep and slick,” witness Andy Nelson told YachatsNews. “He just missed his footing and fell back into the water.”
Steve Allen, 67, of Walnut Creek, disappeared into the ocean after trying to jump across the chasm, Oregon State Police reported. He’s presumed dead.
“It was not a stunt,” Nelson said, noting that Allen tried to leap over a 3- to 4-foot gap. “It was an innocent mistake.”
Nelson and others tried to rescue Allen, dropping a makeshift line of a dog leash, belts and two shirts to him, but he couldn’t hold on, YachatsNews reported. A ranger also arrived with a life ring.
“It was cold … he was struggling,” Nelson told the publication. “And then it became hard for him to hold on. Then he let go. It was too late.”
“The United State Coast Guard and other responding agencies suspended their search,” Oregon State Police said in a news release. “Allen is presumed to be deceased.”
Devils Churn is a “terrifying and majestic” gully south of Yachats, according to tourism website Only In Your State. It’s a day-use park that’s managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
“Here you can watch the crashing waves and the dramatic churning action of the ocean inside the wave carved inlet that we call Devils Churn,” the Forest Service said on its website.
“This deep chasm exposes the shoreline’s volcanic history and shows the relentless, violent power of the ocean,” the site says.
In 2013, a man visiting the park fell into Devils Churn but was rescued with no major injuries, according to News Lincoln County.
In 2002, officials found the hand of a woman washed up on an Oregon beach. Police assume the woman fell or jumped into Devils Churn and disappeared, the Corvallis Gazette-Times reported.
This story was originally published September 12, 2021 at 11:10 AM with the headline "67-year-old leaps across Devils Churn chasm, but slips to his death in roiling ocean."