Suicidal man carves bloody love note; crews perform high angle ropes rescue

A reportedly suicidal man carved a love note into the ground covered in drops of blood at Brooks Nature Park; emergency crews later rescued him from the side of red bluffs in the area. St. George, Utah, Jan. 15, 2014 | Photo by Kimberly Scott, St. George News | Ed. Note: To protect the person's privacy, the name in part at the lower right corner of this photo has been obscured

ST. GEORGE – Officers responded to a psychiatric call Thursday morning after a large amount of blood was discovered throughout and around the Brooks Nature Park at 452 N. Main Street in St. George.

At approximately 9:45 a.m., a resident in the area observed a man bleeding from his arm and allowed the man to use his phone to call a family member, St. George Police Officer Derek Lewis said. After the phone call, the injured man walked off at which point the resident notified authorities, advising them of the situation.

Officers arrived on scene and observed a number of pools of blood throughout the park, along with a message carved in the ground west of Brook’s pond which was covered in drops of blood and read: “I LOVE U … “ with a woman’s name written below it.

Police began following the blood trails and combing the area searching for the reportedly suicidal man.

Just after 10:05 a.m., the man was spotted by area residents on a steep mountainside several blocks away from the park, St. George Police Sgt. Sam Despain said.

“Apparently, there were some folks in some houses right here,” Despain said at the scene, “that could see him walking across so we got a lot of calls. We had officers hike that cliff and we hiked up to him.”

Officers and medical crews were able to get to the man shortly after receiving the tips on his location. By the time they reached him, the man was unresponsive and had a faint pulse.

“He was actually in pretty poor condition,” Despain said. “He had some pretty significant cuts on his arm … so he’s not able to come off under his own power right now.”

“It looks like he had some self-inflicted wounds from a knife, and then hiked across the hill,” Despain added. “So officers went up and helped him and medical went up as well, giving him medical attention for some cuts on his arm and then we’re just working on getting him off the cliffs right now.”

Because of the steep terrain, the St. George Fire Department was called in to perform a high angle ropes rescue.

At the time of this report, police said they do not know the details about the reasons why the man decided to injure himself but that they are aware of Facebook posts made by the man prior to the incident saying that “he was done.”

“We’re fairly confident that they were self-inflicted (wounds); that he acted alone,” Despain said. “There wasn’t anybody else involved so we do have officers in some other areas to ty to figure out why he did this and what’s going on.”

By 11:45 a.m., rescue crews had the man safely down the mountain and transported him to Dixie Regional Medical Center in St. George to be treated and evaluated.

This report is based on preliminary information provided by law enforcement or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.

Ed. note: The name included in the love note etched in the ground has been omitted, and obscured or cropped from photos, to protect the woman’s privacy.

Click on photo to enlarge it, then use your left-right arrow keys to cycle through the gallery. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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17 Comments

  • One for the road January 15, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    This isn’t good some serious issues going on here. I sure hope he gets the help he needs. good job SGPD. and kudos to the fire department.

  • Mean Momma January 15, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    Huh…. I didn’t even know there was a nature park on Main Street.

    • My Evil Twin January 15, 2015 at 9:11 pm

      It’s up on the top end of Main St. Actually pretty nice place, when it doesn’t have blood all over it. 🙁

      • EViL TWINS MOMMY January 16, 2015 at 1:08 am

        How’s my pathetic lunatic doing. Oops.! I bet you’ve heard that before.

  • sagemoon January 15, 2015 at 9:09 pm

    Sad. I hope the guy has some good support waiting for him.

  • koolaid January 15, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    Nothing says I love you more than slicing up yourself and threatening suicide. Not only should the unnamed woman be concerned about his well being, but her own safety and well being as well. IRemember that ex – marine from St George who was living with his girlfriend in Central?

  • Roger Robinson January 16, 2015 at 4:17 am

    Troubling!
    No such thing as an ex-marine.. Once a Marine, Always a Marine.. Semper Fi!

    • Koolaid January 16, 2015 at 9:57 am

      Even one that shoots his girlfriend, her daughter and then himself? Semper Fi!

    • anonymous January 16, 2015 at 9:58 am

      No, there are ex-marines too. If one of your Marine brothers goes so far out there to be dishonorably discharged, and then continues making bad choices even when given all the help in the world from his marine brothers, then they are an ex-marine.

  • Missy January 16, 2015 at 5:31 am

    That was a horrible situation. I hope everyone receives help.

    • One for the road January 16, 2015 at 3:02 pm

      Yeah well spoken.. my sentiments exactly

  • One for the road January 16, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    I hope both sides get the help they need to get passed this and be able to move on

  • Far away resident January 16, 2015 at 10:53 pm

    Agreed. I just really hope it wasn’t anyone I knew.

  • Bobber January 16, 2015 at 11:25 pm

    LOL, how many pics of blood on the ground do you need? I think we got the idea with 1 or 2, ahahahaha

  • Overandover January 17, 2015 at 3:01 am

    Is it just me or is this happening more and more sense Obama has become president?

    • Dana January 17, 2015 at 5:49 am

      It has nothing to do with Obama so it must be you.

  • momma1989 January 17, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    I hope this man or kid Gets the help they need everyone in this world needs it from time to time. People can easily get in that place when they don’t have a support team in they’re family!!! Not blaming anyone just hope he gets some help!!

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