LAPUSH — A 22-year-old Georgia man who was plucked from a cliff overlooking the waters of Little James Island was dubbed Tuesday as a Twilight fan who let his obsession get out of control.
A news release from the Quileute tribe, which is based in LaPush — where scenes of the fictional Twilight series also are set — said the man, still unidentified by authorities, was looking for cliffs from which characters in the second book in the series, New Moon, go diving.
But independent confirmation of the alleged Twilight obsession were as vague as vampires and werewolves stalking the West End.
Clallam County Sgt. Brian King said he hadn’t heard that the man was a Twilight fan.
King was called to the scene to assist the LaPush Police Department, which Wednesday night didn’t return a phone call seeking confirmation.
“What I was told was that he was with a group of college students who were from Georgia and that they were doing a hike down the Pacific coast,” King said.
“I hadn’t been told that he was a fan.”
King said that although the man was with a group, he was the only one who attempted to climb the side of the island.
“Those cliffs are shale, so they just break right under you,” King said.
“That is what got that guy into trouble– he couldn’t go up or down.”
And trying to find the cliff-climber, who reportedly was unhurt, for his side of the story is difficult.
A dispatcher for the U.S. Coast Guard Station Port Angeles, which sent a helicopter to rescue the man and take him to the Quillayute Airport, said that the man’s name could not be released after the case was closed.
He said that in the dispatch record it did not say why the man was climbing the side of the island.