Ranger Successfully Intervenes In Suicide Attempt

During the early morning hours of July 13th, park dispatch received a report of a suicidal woman who was possibly in the park. The report from the Montgomery County (Maryland) Police Department advised that she was missing and possibly suicidal, and that a cell phone belonging to her had pinged off a tower near the park. Ranger Jim Barnes responded from his residence and located the woman in her vehicle at the Shenandoah Valley overlook. When he contacted her, she repeatedly asked him to leave her there and let her die. In the vehicle was a suicide note along with a bottle of sleeping pills, a bottle of ibuprofen, and a bottle of Nyquil, all of which were empty. A receipt in the vehicle showed that the medication had been purchased earlier that evening.  A local ambulance from the town of Front Royal responded and transported the woman to Warren Memorial Hospital in Front Royal, where she was admitted, then later transferred to Winchester Medical Center in Winchester, Virginia.  The woman is doing well and is scheduled to be released from the hospital today.  This is the second time in the past three months that Barnes has successfully intervened in a suicide attempt at this overlook.