Michigan Man Killed In Fall In Rio Grande National Forest

RIO GRANDE NATIONAL FOREST, Colo. (CBS4) – A Michigan man was killed Friday morning after falling while taking a picture from the top of a waterfall in Rio Grande National Forest.

According to the Hinsdale County Sheriff's Department, Dylan Jarsma, 22, from Kalamazoo, Mich. was visiting North Clear Creek Falls located approximately halfway between the towns of Creede and Lake City in southwest Colorado when the incident occurred.

Sheriff Ron Bruce said Jarsma was taking a picture when he got too close to the edge, lost his balance, and fell about 100 feet head-first into a boulder.

According CBS affiliate WWMT in Kalamazoo, Jarsma, a Navy veteran, was moving to Colorado Springs to study to be a firefighter.

"He went to the top of the waterfall to get the best possible photo he could. That was kind of his thing. He was trying to get the photos that nobody else was willing to get," Jarsma's girlfriend, who didn't want her name released, told WWMT. "I watched him check his footing. He's definitely a careful guy. He took every precaution, but somehow he just slipped and went right over the edge. I was about 15 feet behind him and his arm went up to grab the rock, but he just couldn't hold on."

Jarsma's grandparents told WWMT his body will be returned to Kalamazoo after toxicology results are completed.