A 32-year-old man reportedly committed suicide by jumping off Midgley Bridge at 1:14 p.m., Memorial Day, Monday, May 31.

According to Gerry Blair, Coconino County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, the man was from Green Valley, a community south of Tucson.

He drove a Honda CR-V, registered to his parents, and parked it in the area at the north end of the bridge facing southbound.

The man had a history of mental illness and left a suicide note in the vehicle, Blair said.

Blair said CCSO is not sure of the man’s route or what he may have done in the 255 miles between Green Valley and Midgley Bridge.

The man reportedly left the vehicle running with a dog inside and, according to eyewitnesses, walked to the middle of the bridge, climbed over the railing facing southeast and jumped off, Blair said.

The man fell 300 to 325 feet and was dead when rescuers arrived, Blair said.

There were witnesses both at the top of the bridge and below along the canyon floor, according to police. Dozens of people were recreating along Oak Creek at the base of Midgley Canyon.

Officers with the Sedona Police Department were the first to arrive at the scene. The south end of the bridge marks the northern edge of the city limits. The CCSO has jurisdiction over the bridge, but SPD is often called to assist CCSO in emergencies due to its proximity.

The man’s body was recovered by CCSO Search and Rescue around 3 p.m., Blair said. CCSO deputies were on scene into the late afternoon.

The Honda and the dog were returned to the man’s parents, Blair said.

Huckaby Trail is closed by police tape around 1:45 p.m., about 30 minutes after a man reportedly jumped from Midgley Bridge.
Sedona police and Coconino County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted interviews with witnesses at the base of the Huckaby Trail who reportedly saw a man jump to his death from Midgley Bridge.
A Sedona Fire District firefighter gazes over Midgley Bridge at the point where a man reportedly jumped to his death.
Sedona Police Department Officer Rena Dearden, right, strings police tape at 1:50 p.m. around the Honda CR-V of a man who reportedly jumped to his death from Midgley Bridge at 1:14 p.m. Coconino County Sheriff’s Office deputy Gerritt Boeck, left, and SPD Cmdr. Ron Wheeler also responded to the scene.
The parking lot on the north end of Midgley Bridge fills with emergency responders Memorial Day, Monday, May 31, after a man reportedly jumped to his death from the east side of the bridge. He reportedly left a dog in a Honda CR-V with the engine running.
Deputy Gerritt Boeck, with the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, awaits crime scene investigators around 4 p.m. next to this Honda CR-V driven by a man who reportedly jumped to his death off Midgley Bridge at 1:14 p.m. Monday, May 31.