bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

A man who occupied a fleeting spotlight after surviving a plunge over Niagara Falls without protection in 2003 has died after he went over again, this time during an apparent stunt with an inflatable ball, park police said.
The body of 53-year-old Kirk Jones was pulled out of the water June 2 in Youngstown, where the Niagara River feeds into Lake Ontario.
The empty ball had been found earlier in the rapids above the American Falls, one of three falls known collectively as Niagara Falls.
New York state park police said they believe Jones was in Niagara Falls on April 19 and may have tried to go over the falls in the large ball.
“The attempted stunt was unsuccessful, which resulted in the demise of Mr. Jones,” the park police said in a news release.

Although such stunts are illegal, several daredevils have survived trips in various contraptions, beginning with Annie Edison Taylor, who rode over in an oak barrel in 1901.
Investigators did not return calls seeking further detail about what happened to Jones.
Jones, at the time an unemployed salesman from Canton, Michigan, gained celebrity in October 2003, when he became the first person known to survive the 180-foot plunge over Niagara Falls without a safety device. In 1960, seven-year-old Roger Woodward was swept over the falls wearing a life jacket and survived.
A Canadian court fined Jones $2,260 and banned him from the park for a year. After his court appearance in December 2003, he said depression had led him to climb down an embankment and float feet first over the falls but “all my problems were left at the bottom of that gorge.” He described the water like an ice bath and the pressure so great “I thought it would rip the head from my body.”
Jones began touring with the Toby Tyler Circus in Texas in January 2004. His celebrity eventually faded, and he had not been in the public eye in recent years. Police listed his current address as Spring Hill, Florida.
At least two other men have survived unprotected plunges over the falls since Jones did it.


Daredevil who survived 2003 plunge at Niagara Falls dies there after new attempt in giant ball fails

FILE- In this Aug. 13, 2004, file photo, Kirk Jones poses for a photo at Terrapin Point on the American side of Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls State Park, N.Y. Jones, who survived a plunge over Niagara Falls without protection in 2003 has died after he went over again, this time inside an inflatable ball. Police told the Syracuse Post-Standard that the body of the 53-year-old was found in the Niagara River by the U.S. Coast Guard on June 2, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Detroit Free Press via AP, File)

Kirk Jones waits at the shoreline at the base of the Canadian Horseshoe Falls after surviving a headlong plunge over Niagara Falls. Picture: SuppliedSource:AP

News

World

United States & Canada

Although such stunts are illegal, several daredevils have survived trips in various contraptions, beginning with Annie Edison Taylor, who rode over in an oak barrel in 1901
