Rock climber from Lombard falls to his death in North Carolina

A DuPage County man died Sunday after falling off a North Carolina mountain while rock climbing, officials said.

Emergency officials received a call at 11:46 a.m. after Austin Howell, 31, who the Chicago Tribune reported was a Lombard resident, had fallen approximately 80 feet from Shortoff Mountain. He was free climbing without protective gear on one of the most difficult parts of the Linville Gorge, according to a news release from the Burke County Office of Emergency Services.

Crews had difficulty reaching Howell and used equipment to get down the side of the mountain while other climbers gave him CPR, the release said. They reached Howell at 1:18 p.m., and he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m.

The U.S. Forest Service is investigating Howell's death.