CDC report coincides with verdict on firefighter's death

Apr 25, 2016, 02:20 AM

A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing the growth of suicide over the past 15 years coincided with the discovery of the body of Nicole Mittendorff, a Virginia firefighter who disappeared in the Shenandoah National Park. Hawes Spencer has this report.

D.C.-area journalist Neal Augenstein has been tracking the case.

"On the day that Nicole Mittendorff's car was recovered, on Saturday, police also found a note."

They kept the note secret.

"I'm sure the reason was because they hoped that she would not go through with a suicide."

That Saturday, April 16, was also the day a wildfire erupted in the Park-- prompting speculation that the incidents could be linked.

"While it certainly does raise interesting Hollywood possibilities, time has shown us there probably was absolutely no link."

On Friday, a medical examiner reportedly identified suicide as the manner of the 31-year-old woman's death. That same day the Centers for Disease Control revealed that since 1999 suicide among women has grown 60 percent. Hawes Spencer in Charlottesville.

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IMAGES: Mittendorff ended her life in White Oak Canyon. (wikipedia; FD photo)

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