TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. – A Georgia Southern student and his friend were killed in a hiking accident on Tuesday in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.
Transylvania County Sheriff’s Department officials say 22-year-old Davis Zinsenheim of Marietta, Georgia died trying to save his friend who fell 40 feet down Red Bird Falls. Zinsenheim, a junior at GSU, fell in the attempt and died at the scene
The friend he was trying to save, 23-year-old Joseph Hopkins also fell and died from his injuries on Wednesday.
Officials say Hopkins fell about a quarter of the way down the falls to a ledge, and Zinsenheim fell 150 feet to the bottom of the falls when he tried to reach Hopkins.
Emergency crews spent four hours trying to rescue the hikers.
Zinsenheim was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and they posted the following: