A 19-year-old woman has died after falling from the roof of an abandoned hospital building in Atlanta that was used to film Netflix’s hit series Stranger Things.
Leah Palmirotto plummeted just before 1am Friday while exploring the fenced-off property on Emory University’s campus with her friends. She was declared dead at the site.
The Briarcliff Building was a psychiatric hospital built in the 1960s and served as the set of Hawkins National Laboratory on the Netflix show.
The five-story building was closed off to the public, but investigators suspect the group got inside by climbing over the chain-link fence, WAGA reported.
Police are still working to determine what caused Palmirotto’s fall as her heartbroken father revealed that he believes his daughter had visited the property before.
‘Going to these places are dangerous, being with people that you really don’t know, like we just kind of always had something in the back of our mind that something could happen,’ Todd Palmirotto Jr told the news outlet.
He added that he hopes his daughter’s death was ‘instant’ and that she ‘felt no pain’ when she fell.
Palmirotto Jr hailed the teen as being ‘perfect’ and said her death has been especially difficult for her two brothers, Devan and Lucca.
Palmirotto loved exploring and photographing abandoned buildings, according to a GoFundMe crowdfunding page established by a family friend.
She also ‘adored car shows’ and would attend them weekly to photograph vehicles for their owners.
The teenager was popular during her school years and could get along with everyone, her loved ones said.
‘She was a beautiful and vibrant young lady originally from Florida who lived for the beach and outdoors,’ the fundraiser stated. ‘Her family is left absolutely heartbroken.’
Her family friend added that she was ‘just doing stuff that normal 19-year-old kids do’ when the adventure ‘ended up in pure devastation.’
A vigil will be held in her honor this week.
The Briarcliff Building is one of more than 40 sites that Emory University rents out to filmmakers and production companies.
Although it is most famously known for its appearance in Stranger Things, the building has featured in numerous productions, including The Vampire Diaries, Ozark and WandaVision.
The building has since been removed as a filming location on the Emory Film Management website.
The facility remains fenced off and is reportedly being guarded by security in the wake of Palmirotto’s tragic death.
