Pennsylvania Teens Dies on NorCal Vacation

The Marin County coroner's office has identified a Pennsylvania  teen who died Monday when he fell from a cliff near Muir Beach as 17-year-old Andrew Leonard Hicks Jr.
     
Hicks, his parents and three siblings from West Chester, Pa., were  on vacation, according to Alexandra Picavet, spokeswoman for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
     
Some of the family members were hiking along the Coastal Trail  three-quarters of a mile south of Muir Beach when Hicks fell around 1 p.m., Picavet said.
     
Hicks and another sibling had gone ahead and walked down a "social  trail", an unofficial, unconstructed pathway off the main trail, to get a better view, Picavet said.
     
Hicks was bracing himself on rocks as he sat down near the edge of  the cliff, when he fell 400 to 500 feet to his death, Picavet said.
     
His sibling ran back and notified his parents, and Hicks' father  made his way down the cliff to his son, Picavet said.
     
The Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department arrived first and gave  Hicks CPR to no avail, Picavet said. National Parks Service lifeguards on a  jet ski brought Hicks' body to Muir Beach, where he was pronounced dead at about 2 p.m.
     
Speculation that Hicks had been using his cell phone when he fell  has been discounted, Picavet said.
     
"I can definitively say a cell phone had nothing to do with it.  That was speculation by someone who was not at the scene," Picavet said.
     
The West Chester Area School District posted news of Hicks' death  on its website.
     
The district said Hicks was an incoming senior at B. Reed  Henderson High School, a member of the National Honor Society and played  varsity ice hockey and soccer.
     
Hicks, a well-liked and highly regarded student, showed a strong  interest in pursuing a career in medicine and health care, district officials said.