GILES COUNTY, Va. — The woman who died after falling nearly 100 feet within a cave in Virginia last week is being remembered as "outgoing" and "very respectful."
Autumn Nicole Draper, 38, of Fairlawn, Virginia, fell in the cave just outside Pearisburg just after 4:10 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 12.
Once rescue crews made their way into the cave, they discovered Draper’s body, according to Giles County Emergency Services Coordinator Jon Butler.
“The female was extricated from the cave by rescue personnel working the incident,” officials said.
Andrew Nunn, a longtime friend of Draper, said she loved nature.
"We used to hang out all the time go hiking and stuff," Nunn said. "She was really good at hiking and she really liked hiking."
Nunn said that while he had not seen Draper in a while, he said he never forgot her kind spirit.
"She was an outgoing person, very respectful, very ambitious," he said.
Gretchen Baker, the National Coordinator for the National Cave Rescue Commission, said falling is the most common risk when exploring caves.
"The most typical injury we see in caves are lower leg injuries, so sprained ankles or broken lower legs," Baker said. "Because mainly the faults tend to be smaller faults. But sometimes there are bigger problems where there could be rockfall, there could be flooding in caves. So there are a number of things that could go wrong."
Baker urged people to be prepared before going caving.
"Make sure that somebody knows where you're going and what time you'll be back. So that if your group has some problems, and you're not back in time, they can call for help," Baker warned. "To always make sure you're going camping in a group with a minimum of three people. So if one person does get hurt, someone can stay with the injured person and someone can go get help."
At last check, the Giles County Sheriff’s Office was still investigating the incident.
Pearisburg is 25 miles west of Blacksburg near the Virginia/West Virginia state line.
Virginia has more than 4,000 caves, according to the commonwealth’s Department of Energy.
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