Waterfall Plunge Leaves Riverside County Man Dead

FOREST FALLS, CA — Two Riverside County hikers fell down one of Southern California's largest year-round running waterfalls over the weekend, killing one of them and injuring the other.

A 43-year-old Riverside man died at the scene after he fell at Big Falls in Forest Falls, a popular hiking destination in the San Bernardino County Mountains.

The man, Richard Deharo, fell about 20 feet alongside a 43-year-old Riverside woman, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

A sheriff's helicopter crew spotted the pair in the lower falls area as the woman was performing CPR on Deharo, the sheriff's department reported.

Cal Fire/San Bernardino County Fire Department crews made their way to the area but Deharo was dead when they arrived.

The woman was hoisted up to the helicopter and flown to an awaiting ground ambulance. She was sent to Loma Linda University Medical Center for treatment of her injuries, according to the sheriff's department. An update on her medical condition was unavailable.

Deharo's body was retrieved and sent to the San Bernardino County coroner's office.

The fatality is at least the second this year in the Forest Falls area. The body of Robert Carey Jr., 33, of Calimesa was discovered at the base of the Big Falls waterfall in May. Read more: Body Of Missing Calimesa Hiker Found At Base Of Waterfall

Editor's note: The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department originally reported that Deharo was a Hemet resident. The story has been updated to reflect reporting by the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner's Office, which said he was a Riverside resident.