UPDATE: Bear Cave Park death confirmed as suicide

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(ABC 6 News) – UPDATE: The Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday that a man died by suicide in Stewartville’s Bear Cave Park on Saturday night.

According to Olmsted County Sherrif’s Captain Tim Parkin, the man called dispatch to report his own death at about 10:30 p.m.

Olmsted County Community Outreach Specialist, Bailey Ziemann, says there has been an increase in calls over the last year.

“Suicide isn’t the answer that we want anybody to take,” Ziemann said. “We want to get you the help, we want to talk about it. Whatever your comfort level is with it, we want to be able to meet you at that level and navigate that path with you.”

The county’s Community Outreach and Crisis team will often intervene in calls like the one in Stewartville, and work to help the person in crisis. The best way to get in touch with this team is to call dispatch at 507-328-6800 and ask for them personally, no matter the situation.

However, that team is not staffed 24/7, and did not have a team member on duty after 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. The team says even if they are off duty, dispatch will still send help, and will still provide resources.

There are also other 24/7 resources available, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline .

In May, ABC 6 News partnered with Zumbro Valley for a four-part series, called Mental Health Matters. You can watch those stories here: https://www.kaaltv.com/6onyourside/mental-health-matters/

RELATED: 988 crisis line reaches 1 year anniversary – ABC 6 News – kaaltv.com


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(ABC 6 News) – A death investigation is underway after the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) responded to a call at Bear Cave Park in Stewartville.

According to the OCSO, deputies responded to a call just after 10:30 p.m. on Saturday at 800 10th St. NW.

ABC 6 News spoke to an OCSO official, who said that there is an ongoing investigation into the call, but would not confirm if a body was found.

According to the sheriff’s office activity logs, the type of call has been indicated as a death investigation.

The Stewartville Fire Dept. as well as Mayo Clinic Ambulance also responded to the scene.

Officials with OCSO say that there is no threat to the public.

More information is expected to be released Monday morning.

ABC 6 News will provide additional information when it becomes available.