PERSIA - The Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday that Simon P. Griffis, 48, of Buffalo, was killed following a fall into the gorge at Zoar Valley.
Investigators reported that Griffis, who is the manager of the Griffis Sculpture Park in Cattaraugus County, was hiking along Deer Lick Trail when he fell off a cliff into the Zoar Valley gorge below. Hikers found his body Monday and contacted authorities around 3:43 p.m. An Erie County sheriff's helicopter was brought in to recover the body from the creek.
The preliminary investigation revealed no suspicious circumstances but the case is still under investigation.
The Griffis Sculpture Park, located in Ashford Hollow, is the largest outdoor sculpture park in the United States. The park was founded by the deceased man's late father, Larry Griffis Jr., in 1967.