Medina Faraz, 20, of Union City was hiking in the area of McWay Falls, near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park at Mile Marker 36 on Highway 1 in Big Sur. She climbed down and around a sea-side cliff without the proper equipment or clothing. The victim shortly thereafter began to slide down the cliff in an uncontrolled descent. She fell into the ocean. The preliminary cause of death appears to be drowning. Monterey County Search and Rescue, in a joint effort with California State Parks, recovered the body.
