SOURCE: http://www.redding.com/news/past/20020626lo046.shtml

Cause of woman's death in sweat lodge sought

Alex Breitler
Record Searchlight

June 26, 2002 — 2:17 a.m.
It will be weeks before a cause of death is issued for a Redding woman who died in a sweat lodge ritual to observe the summer solstice, El Dorado County sheriff's officials said Tuesday.

An autopsy was conducted this week, but officials will wait for toxicology test results before determining how 34-year-old Kirsten "Kris" Babcock died, said El Dorado County sheriff's Lt. Kevin House.

Those tests, which can determine whether a person used alcohol or drugs before death, usually take six to eight weeks.

"We won't know the cause of death until we get those results," House said. "It's going to be awhile."

Babcock died Friday after spending more than an hour in a makeshift sweat lodge built from a wood frame covered in plastic. David Hawker, 36, of Union City, also died.

The two were in a remote part of the El Dorado National Forest for the ritual, described by some of the 35 participants as a "vision quest."

Four people took part in the ceremony, normally a four-hour event. Witnesses became concerned when they could no longer hear chanting, which is a part of the vision quest.

Medics tried to revive Babcock and Hawker but were unsuccessful.

Babcock, a Redding native, graduated from the University of California at Davis with an art degree and worked at Kinko's on Churn Creek Road in Redding, loved ones have said. She had been practicing for the vision quest for more than a year.

Though the official cause of death is pending, oxygen loss "more than likely" played a part in Babcock's death, House said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reporter Alex Breitler can be reached at 225-8344 or at abreitler@redding.com.

Wednesday, June 26, 2002