The Taos County Sheriff’s Office reported Tuesday (Sept. 20) that it has identified the woman who committed suicide after clinging to the railing of the Río Grande Gorge Bridge Monday night.

Undersheriff Ed Romero said Sgt. Eugene Holgate responded to the scene around 6:30 p.m. Monday, where a witness was trying to talk 59-year-old Pamela Barich of Glorieta back inside the railing.

“He tried to talk to her while she was hanging on and tried to convince her not to let go when he noticed her knuckles getting white,” Romero said. “She said, ‘You can’t help me,’ and let go. Sgt. Holgate witnessed the drop.”

Romero said that Barich had driven up from Glorieta and left several letters in her car with instructions, many of them addressed to her husband.

Vigil’s Towing helped hikers and constructions workers on duty to repair the bridge recover the body with a hoist.

Romero said that Barich’s notes left no question about the nature of her death as a suicide and there would be no death inquiry. Witnesses at the scene declined to offer statements to the sheriff’s office.