Investigation continues into rock slide that strikes home, claims life of rural Harpers Ferry homeowner
Rock slide hits home, claims life of rural Harpers Ferry man ... Photos above and below show the impact of a rock slide that slammed into a home on Red Oak Road north of Harpers Ferry Tuesday, September 30. In addition to the series of large and small rocks pictured in the photo above that caused some minor exterior damage to the home, another large rock crashed through the rear wall of the home directly off the adjacent hillside, creating the hole pictured in the photo below and ultimately striking homeowner Michael Stok, causing fatal injuries. The Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to investigate the use of heavy equipment on top of the bluff above the home as a potential cause of the fatal incident. Photos courtesy of the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office.
The Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office reports that Tuesday, September 30 at 10:39 a.m., the Allamakee County Dispatch Center received a 911 call reporting that portions of a hillside involving heavy rocks had slid down into a house in the rural Harpers Ferry area and a male resident of the home was unable to be located.
Emergency personnel responded to the 1100 block of Red Oak Road north of Harpers Ferry in rural Allamakee County. Upon arrival, first responders located Michael Dan Stok, age 76, of Harpers Ferry inside the residence, and verified that he had been struck by a large rock as it crashed through the back wall of the home, causing fatal injuries and resulting in Stok being pronounced deceased at the scene.
An initial investigation determined that numerous rocks had rolled down the hill from an adjacent property at the top of a bluff located behind the home, with several of those rocks striking the home and a large one of those crashing through the back wall of the residence, creating about a four-foot by four-foot hole that can be seen in the photos accompanying this article. Allamakee County Sheriff Clark Mellick said Stok had the unfortunate timing of being in a back room of the home at the same time that rock had crashed through that back wall of the home into that same room.
“It was a very tragic accident, the timing of it all was just unbelievably unfortunate,” Sheriff Mellick noted.
The Allamakee County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the use of heavy equipment on an adjacent property located in an area above the residence around the time of the incident. Mellick said the heavy equipment use was by a private landowner on their own property and appears to have involved a bulldozer and a small excavator.
Mellick said the investigation is ongoing, with additional measurements and other matters to follow up on to truly determine the exact cause of the landslide. He said at this time there is no intention on his department’s behalf to file any criminal charges in the matter.
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