Toddler Dies in Accident at Whitewater Falls

Sunday evening not long before 6:00pm, Emergency responders from Jackson, Transylvania, Haywood, Henderson, and Oconee counties were dispatched to Whitewater Falls where it was reported that a toddler had been swept away in the water at the top of the falls and the current had carried the child over the falls.

Rescuers located the child deceased and entrapped in an area of the water fall.

Recovery operations throughout the night and early morning led to the child being recovered from the waterfall around 1:00am on Monday.

Our sister station 104.9 WFSC’s Sean Gibson in Franklin, NC, spoke with the US Forest Service, who told him that the falls have been prone to accidents over the years…

The child was identified as Nevaeh Jade Newswanger, age 3, of Denver, Pennsylvania. The Newswanger family has been residing in Oconee County, South Carolina while working in the area.