Woman dies after falling 48 feet through floor of home into hidden well shaft

SALEM, S.C. (WHNS/Gray News) - Police say a woman died after she fell down a well shaft under the floor of a 100-year-old home in South Carolina.

Deputies say 83-year-old Dorothy Louise Downey arrived at a house located on Park Avenue Sunday to visit and assist her daughter in moving.

As she was walking in the kitchen, Downey stepped onto the weakened floor and fell through into a well shaft.

Downey’s daughter crawled under the house to try and locate her mother, but she could not find her, deputies said.

According to Oconee County property records, the house was originally built in 1920. Deputies say the family knew the floor was rotten, but it’s unknown if the family knew about the well shaft.

The coroner ruled Downey’s death as accidental.

The Salem Fire Department and Oconee Emergency Services extricated the woman from the well at around 5:45 p.m.

The sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the incident.

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