STORY # 1
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Posted at 01:05 p.m. PDT; Friday, September 24, 1999
NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C. - A toddler who survived a 150-foot plunge from a suspension bridge will not be handed over to her mother when she is released from the hospital, because of the "many unanswered questions" about her fall, Canadian authorities said. "We have to try to determine what, in fact, happened on that bridge . . . we have not closed our case," said Rod Booth, a sergeant with the North Vancouver Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The child will be turned over to the British Columbia Ministry of Social Services, which will determine where to place her, Booth said. Vancouver newspapers today reported that the mother was having difficulty caring for the child, who has Down Syndrome, and was embroiled in a legal fight with her estranged fifth husband. The woman was on the Capilano Suspension Bridge Wednesday with the couple's 18-month-old daughter and her 5-year-old son. Two tourist photos released by the RCMP, apparently taken seconds apart, show the mother walking with the baby clutched to her chest and the little boy by her side - and then standing alone with the boy, her hand on the railing. The baby landed on a ledge, 80 feet above the river below. Initial reports Wednesday said the mother told police she slipped and lost her grip on the child. Authorities were still trying to learn how the toddler went over. The bridge over the Capilano River Gorge has protective webbing to prevent such accidents, from its floor to a height of about 4 feet. The child was in good condition today at B.C. Children's Hospital with what were called non-life-threatening injuries. By today, the hospital was referring questions about her to the Ministry for Children and Families. The mother, detained overnight for questioning, was released yesterday. "There is not evidence for any charges at this time, but we will continue to investigate,' RCMP Constable Heidi Hoffman said. "There is still a criminal investigation in the matter." According to Vancouver's two daily papers, the Province and the Sun, the mother told court officials she had been struggling to care for her daughter since 20-hour-a-week government home-support services ended in October 1998. She and her husband, a securities lawyer, met in 1989 and married in 1996. It was his second marriage, her fifth. They separated in January 1998, before their daughter's birth in April. In June 1998, a family court judge noted that the mother was unemployed and would be unable to return to work for "some considerable time," in part because she "is now involved in learning to cope with (her daughter's) care." In February, the mother asked the court for an increase in child support from the father. A $500 (Canadian) increase was ordered, to $2,217, due to the loss in government services, which a judge called "a compelling change in circumstances." The father's income has ranged from $267,161 to $454,911 between 1994 and 1997. He also had income from investments and stock options. Police are asking for help The RCMP is asking anyone who was on the bridge at approximately 5:30 p.m. Wednesday - and anyone who may have seen the incident - to call police at 604-985-1311. Police are also hoping that people will visit the RCMP Web site at http://north-van.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/media.htm. and call police if they recognize themselves or others in the pictures, said Constable Christy Veenstra. At the site, click on "September 1999." Meanwhile, the public continued to marvel that the baby lived at all. "This is quite a remarkable survival story," said Dr. David Smith of B.C. Children's Hospital. "Babies can certainly fall out of one- or two-story windows and not have major injuries, but this far exceeds that." It is believed that tree branches broke her fall. Also, "Children's bones aren't quite as rigid as adults'," he said. "There's more give to things."
Seattle Times reporters Janet Burkitt, Christine Clarridge and Dave Birkland contributed to this report.
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