Buffalo Grove resident falls to his death at Grand Canyon

A Buffalo Grove High School alumnus climbed over a railing at the Grand Canyon, lost his footing and fell approximately 500 feet to his death Tuesday, according to a report in The Daily Courier in Prescott, Ariz.

Kirby-Lynn Shedlowski, Grand Canyon National Park public affairs officer, identified the man as 24-year-old Andrey Privin, the newspaper said.

The fatal fall occurred at Mather Point, a scenic Grand Canyon viewpoint located along the South Rim of the canyon.

Some posts on social media said witnesses saw Privin throw his backpack to his intended landing spot, but onlookers did not realize he was going to try to jump the gap, the newspaper reported. Shedlowski would not confirm these accounts but told media outlets that Privin did remove his backpack.

"I understand that people are hypothesizing about what happened," Shedlowski told the nonprofit group National Parks Traveler. "While the incident remains under investigation, I can share that it is most likely he removed his backpack for better dexterity."

Privin's friend Kayla Huber said Friday that Privin served as a patient care technician at Highland Park Hospital. He had been working there since 2016 while seeking his degree in nursing, she said.

Privin graduated from Buffalo Grove High School in 2012, after which he attended Loyola University in Chicago, earning degrees in psychology and nursing.

Huber said she became friends with Privin while they were students at Buffalo Grove High School. Both were on the forensics - speech and debate - team at the school, competed in Lincoln-Douglas Debate together and were Dramatic Duet Acting partners.

He had been an assistant coach on the forensics team at Buffalo Grove High School after graduation, she said.

"Countless hours at practice and tournaments gave us a very strong foundation, and we continued to be close friends after high school," she said. "Andrey had a genuine warmth about him. You came away from spending time with him feeling rejuvenated, understood, and full, rather than depleted."

Huber said he was also introverted to the point where "you always had to text him twice to get him to make plans."

She said becoming a nurse had been his goal for years.

"He never gave up a dream," she said. "He was the type to pour you a glass of whiskey and have existentialist conversations until the wee hours of the morning."

He was also a proficient musician, she said, playing trombone growing up, as well as guitar, with an eclectic taste ranging from metal to rap.