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Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

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Probe of fatal fall near Sewanee, Tenn., ‘inconclusive’

photo Natural Bridge in Franklin County, Tenn., is a 25-foot-high sandstone arch with a span of 50 feet that overlooks Lost Cove. Wikipedia Photo

State parks officials say their investigation into a Coalmont, Tenn., man’s fatal fall from a natural bridge in a small park near Sewanee, Tenn., was inconclusive.

First responders from Franklin County and the town of Sewanee found David Binkley Cash, 47, May 18 after he fell from Natural Bridge, Sheriff Tim Fuller said Friday. They immediately turned the scene over to state parks officials, he said.

Meg Lockhart, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said Cash was taken to meet a medical helicopter in Sewanee. He died the next day.

Lockhart said she couldn’t discuss the nature of his injuries.

“As with all incidents such as this, our park management investigated and spoke with potential witnesses in an attempt to piece together what could have caused the individual to fall,” she said in an emailed response. “That investigation was inconclusive.”