Maj. William Deming Gray, the vice wing commander for the Civil Air Patrol’s Tennessee Wing, died Sunday after falling 30 feet off a cliff in the 8000 block of Laurel Trail on Signal Mountain, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
Gray, 62, had been clearing brush on his property since that morning, sheriff’s office spokesperson Matt Lea said in an email. Sheriff’s deputies and rescue personnel were called around 7 p.m. after Gray’s family became concerned, went to check on him and found that he’d fallen off a ledge at the back of the property.
Deputies and rescue personnel retrieved him, authorities said, but he had already died.
As in all deaths found to be unusual or unnatural, notifying the Hamilton County Medical Examiner’s Office is required so that an investigation into the manner and cause of death can be conducted, Lea said. The sheriff’s office also conducts a parallel investigation focusing on circumstances surrounding the death and shares that information with the medical examiner’s office.
In this case, preliminary findings show that all evidence points to Gray’s fall being accidental, Lea said.