Two Teens Arrested in Connection With Photographer's Death, Admit to Pushing Log off Cliff

The recent mystery of a photographer’s death appears to have been solved after two Ohio teenagers were arrested when one sent text messages to a friend admitting he had “done something serious.” It has also emerged that the photographer died as a result of being struck by a 75-pound log, which hit her as she shot senior portraits in a public park.

The incident happened on September 2nd, around 5.30pm, at Hocking Hills State Park in Logan. Victoria Schafer, aged 44, was taking pictures of six high school seniors when she was hit with the log from above. She was later pronounced dead at the scene, but police claim it was obvious there was foul play involved, and not simply nature taking its course. According to reports, they found the imprint of where the 80-pound log had been before it was pushed, and that it could not have simply rolled off the cliff through weather conditions.

After authorities were tipped off about the messages on October 8th, two teens admitted to their involvement in pushing the log over the cliff. They are now in custody at a juvenile detention center.

Schafer’s son John said that despite his grief, it was “just bad teenage judgment,” and that he plans to speak in court to ensure the incident doesn’t “ruin [the teenagers] lives.”

Mourners have been posting well-wishes on her Facebook page, Victoria Shafer Photography.

Jack Alexander's picture

A 28-year-old self-taught photographer, Jack Alexander specialises in intimate portraits with musicians, actors, and models.

Log in or register to post comments
16 Comments

"doesn’t “ruin [the teenagers] lives"; really? Reckless and stupid irresponsibility is no excuse. Her son should not make excuses either. Ignorance and incompetence is no excuse before the law, a person got killed and I hope the law will make these dumb kids see that.

You do not get dictate how the victims should feel. If the victim has sympathy for the teenagers, that’s his right. He’s the one suffering. Not you. So you don’t get choose how he navigates that grief.

I think you forgot who the REAL victim is.... SHE'S THE ONE WHO'S DEAD YOU STUPID MORON!

yea..except she's dead...moron, so she has no say in really anything anymore. Her suffering is over. It's her living relative (her son), who has to deal with the grief and suffering, therefore he's the one whose feelings on the matter truly matter. Forgiveness is in his hands. You don't get to tell him how/when he should forgive or feel.

See how that works? It's called thinking. Take the sand out of your vagina and try it sometime Cro-Magnon, ignorant piece of shit.

Easy on the soy there buddy. It's one thing to talk tough behind the keyboard, but what SJW snowflakes like you fail to realise is that a child's apparent lack of empathy towards their parent's death due to stupidity can hardly be considered as just. If someone killed my loved one's I would not simply let it go; if for no other reason than to prevent it happening again. What you're saying is it's ok for the teens to get away with it. Nice morals you have there. There's a reason why trails and reserves have rules, to protect the environment against vandalism and to protect other human beings in the area, you simpleton. Or are you suggesting that because a child forgives someone that killed his mom the authorities should just shrug their shoulders and let someone else get killed? And by your own admission, you don't get to tell me what my opinion should or should not be either, you arrogant, pretentious little child. BTW, we don't use the term Cro-Magnon anymore.

You're right, given your binary limitation of thought, I'd say neanderthal is a more appropriate for you anyway. What deep crevice of your ass did you pull out "lack of empathy from?" Just because he has the capacity to forgive the teenagers and sympathize with the fact that they were probably just some stupid kids who meant no harm, doesn't automatically mean he's not mourning for the loss of his mother. It's called empathy. It's called being able to process multiple scenarios. It's a very human form of thought, so I understand if you don't follow.

And I never said anything about lack of consequences for the teenagers so your argument merely demonstrates a severe deficiency in reading comprehension. They should absolutely be punished. But given that there was no intended malice, and it was an accident, there is a good chance they can be rehabilitated and rejoin society, so there's no need to treat them like mass murderers either.

Now let the adults talk and go back to flinging your poop against the wall.

I can only imagine what your clients would say if they knew how you interact with people on social media. You don't get to tell people what their opinion is, nor does someone need to resort to insults and personal attacks simply because they have their own opinion. If you cannot handle that, get off social media and try to educate your clients... see how that works out for you. You have a lot of growing up to do, kiddo.

Umm wow you are actually kind of retarded. Read the thread. My initial comment was PC. You started the nasty talk by calling me a “stupid moron.” Take your own advice before you dish it. Forget the internet. Idiots like you have no place in society.

And the irony is amusing. You’re rambling about the sanctity of opinions while this whole thread started because you didn’t respect someone else’s right to grieve in their own way.

You really don't know when to let it go, do you
Have a good evening

I am done with it. But i am Not gonna let you play the victim with moral superiority and ignore the fact that you insulted me first. Here’s a life tip: Don’t clap at someone if you can’t handle the retaliation. I suggest you redirect your energy into alleviating whatever issues are contributing to you being the sad, pathetic creature you are. Crawl back into your hole and take a long hard look at your sad life.

How they're punished is for the state to decide. In this case, it's Ohio. Unlike Sharia Lawlessness, it's not the victim's family. It's the state and the principle is being fair and just to the rest of the citizens of Ohio. They knowingly killed someone. Murder is still murder and cannot go unpunished.

Are you freakin' kid me?!? The dead mother's own son is going to request leniency? It's stupid shits like him why stupid shits like those teenagers do the stupid shits that they do.

If it was the case that the teenagers didn't know she was below (it sounds like they didn't) then this is definitely just silly juvenile behaviour gone very very wrong. They were pushing a log off a cliff to see what'd happen to it. I've done similar things in my past, thankfully there were no passers by, and my life wasn't ruined because of a silly bit of fun.

---"If it was the case that the teenagers didn't know she was below (it sounds like they didn't)"

Where do you get this? Have you not ever shot in the canyons? You can hear people whispering. You can hear footsteps. She was doing a photoshoot so there would have been movement and voices. Those dipshits knew there were people down below when they rolled the log. Even if it was just a prank where they were trying to scare people, there's no excuse. Someone died.

---"then this is definitely just silly juvenile behaviour gone very very wrong"

Oh, I see, we'll just chalk up her death to experience.

---"I've done similar things in my past, thankfully there were no passers by, and my life wasn't ruined because of a silly bit of fun."

Your life wasn't ruined because you didn't kill anyone. Had you, you bet ass your life should be ruined.

Even at the tender age of 12 I already knew such stupidity was lethal and would kill someone - as did every other 12 year old I knew. I cannot accept that any teen - as in 12 or older - could not possibly know it could kill someone. It's inconceivable to me. It's also inconceivable they didn't know there was anyone below. They knew, but they didn't care about killing someone. They had no value for human life.

This reminds me of a case involving people I knew, a young man made a dumb mistake and killed someone as a result. The victim's sister requested leniency, and the judge agreed that ruining more lives wouldn't make anything better.

The guy still spent 4 years in jail and has to live with the fact that he killed someone. It's not like he got a free pass. These kids were charged with a felony, so they'll likely be doing some time too, even if they are given leniency.