Former Principal Jumps To Death Off Palisades Park Cliffs, Police Say

A former vice principal at the Elizabeth Avenue School in Franklin died after he jumped from the top of the Palisades Park cliffs, police reported.

John Norton’s body was found by police at the bottom of the 320 foot cliff below the State Line Lookout on Sunday, Nov. 22, Palisades Interstate Parkway Police said.

“There were no suspicious circumstances involved with Mr. Norton’s death,” police reported. “At this time, it has been determined that Mr. Norton’s death was caused by no other actions other than his own.”

Norton, 35, was a former vice principal at the Elizabeth Avenue School in Somerset until resigning in late 2013, after he was arrested for selling crystal meth out of his home, according to nj.com.

He later pleaded guilty, and in March 2014 was sentenced to spend five years in Somerset County’s drug court program, which includes regular court appearances, treatment and random drug testing, according to nj.com.

The investigation into Norton’s death began when PIP Officer Richard Dey spotted his vehicle around 8 p.m., after closing in the State Line Lookout in Palisades Park on Saturday, Nov. 21.

Dey had seen the car earlier in his shift and began to look for the driver on nearby State Line Lookout trails.

Several officers assisted with the search including Westchester County Police’s aviation unit, which scanned the area above and below the cliffs and found nothing.

“Due to the weather conditions and extreme darkness, additional searches became unsafe,” police reported.

Police resumed the search on Sunday, Nov, 22 at 7 a.m. when Police Officer Jeffrey Lamboy and PIP Trail Crew Supervisor Christina Fehre found Norton’s body.

“It was evident that the victim had come from the top of the cliff,” police reported.

The Reginal Rappel Response was put into place and members from Closter, Englewood Cliffs, and East Bergen responded to recover Norton’s body.

(Photo by Palisades Interstate Parkway Police: Rappel teams and investigators at the scene of the body recovery in State Line Lookout)