<p>This is so sad. :-(</p>
<p>USC kicker found dead at bottom of cliff</p>
<p>Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Southern California starting kicker Mario Danelo was found dead on Saturday. He was 21 years old.</p>
<p>According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Danelo’s body was found at the bottom of White Point Cliff in San Pedro, California.</p>
<p>Danelo, a red-shirt junior, converted 15-of-16 field goals this year for the Trojans. On New Year’s day, Danelo kicked two field goals in USC’s 32-18 Rose Bowl win over Michigan.</p>
<p>Sad news indeed. I wish his family and the Trojan family the best. At least he got the opportunity to kick butt at the Rose Bowl…</p>
<p>Very sad…</p>
<p>Any ideas on what happened?</p>
<p>What?! That’s so sad!</p>
<p><a href=“USC's Danelo found dead”>USC's Danelo found dead;
<p>omg…How utterly devastating. :(</p>
<p>The loss of a young life–and all of its untold potential–is especially tragic. Sending healing thoughts to Mario’s family, friends, USC family, and everyone who admired and was inspired by him.</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>From the story:
“Atop the cliff are signs forbidding entrance and warnings about unstable, slippery surfaces and steep drops. A bouquet of flowers and candles were left at the scene by onlookers.”</p>
<p>slipped and fell? Tragic indeed, but I can’t help feeling relieved that he didn’t lose the last game on a missed fg or something like that, which would have raised all kinds of sinister questions.</p>
<p>God that’s terrible</p>
<p>As with so many tragic accidents among young people, I think it is very likely to turn out that alcohol was involved here.</p>
<p>That is very sad indeed. I do wonder why a popular sociable guy would be wandering in that area by himself? Anyone familiar with the cliffs there?</p>
<p>It is very sad. It appears from the images that one would have to cross the barriers intentionally to get to the cliffs, whether it be to jump, party, or meditate. I notice that he went to high school in the area. Perhaps he had a false sense of familiarity and invulnerability.</p>
<p><a href=“http://virtualguidebooks.com/SouthCalif/LosAngeles/SanPedro/PointFerminLight.html[/url]”>http://virtualguidebooks.com/SouthCalif/LosAngeles/SanPedro/PointFerminLight.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“California Beaches - Find Your Beach, We Have Them All”>California Beaches - Find Your Beach, We Have Them All;
<p>Or, sad to say, maybe he committed suicide - it happens more often than you think.</p>
<p>“I do wonder why a popular sociable guy would be wandering in that area by himself”</p>
<p>We don’t know that he was alone when he fell. He may have been with friends who fled.</p>
<p>It is really sad. This is pretty much the biggest headline story around here.</p>
<p>I know the cliffs around there pretty well. While they are <em>very</em> well protected with quality fences and guardrails, it’s entirely conceivable that an accident like this could happen. It seems every couple of years there’s an accident somewhere, though this is by far the biggest one since I can remember.</p>
<p>What the pictures don’t really show is how very steep it is at places along these cliffs - it really is like a 90-degree drop off 100-200 feet and the guardrails are about a half a foot to a foot from the edge - in lots of places you can reach through over the edge of the cliff.</p>
<p>Add on to the fact that it’s been very wet around here recently, a horrible accident isn’t unlikely. He knew the area very well so it wouldn’t be very strange if he was out on his own - though I admit the whole thing seems kind of - unresolved :(</p>
<p>I haven’t seen anything on the news here. Have there been any updates?</p>
<p>The whole matter is still being investigated. All the local police have said is that they are ruling out “foul play”. An autoposy was perfomed a few days ago and toxicology reports will apparently take a week or so. No suicide note or other evidence has been found. Just a sad and tragic situation.</p>
<p>It really puts things in perspective. My heart goes out to his family. Thank you, bullwinkle, for the update.</p>
<p>There are similar cliffs along the beach in San Diego. They can be very slippery and unstable and every year several people are rescued from the cliffs. These people typically purposely ignore signs and barriers to be closer to the edge or to attempt to climb down the cliff. I don’t know what happened in this particular case but it is indeed tragic.</p>
<p>The day/night that the player fell off the cliff we had very high winds here. Also, the ground is unstable in that area and could have crumbled and he fell. I would like to know the estimated time of death and whether he was alone or not at the time of his fall. Not saying it’s foul play but could have been a drunken wandering with friends that went bad and they are afraid to come forward. </p>
<p>What a horrible and tragic end. My heart goes out to the family, friends and teammates of this young man.</p>