Drowning tragedy stirs caution at Bluestem Falls; OHP says to prioritize safety

Four people drowned in Eastern Oklahoma over the weekend. One was a man who drowned after jumping off cliffs near Bluestem Lake in Osage County.

On Saturday night, 24-year-old Morpheis Timmons was with a group of people at Bluestem Falls. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Ryan Griffith says he jumped off the cliff and never resurfaced.

His body was recovered the next day.

“We will probably never know what caused this drowning to happen after he jumped in but what we do know is when he jumped in something happened and he lost his life,” Griffith said.

What happened to Timmons is a warning for Anya De Leon who came here to cool down on Monday.

“Yeah, it does make me second guess it a lot like how safe I should be, you know,” De Leon said.

De Leon and her group brought flotation devices, and a friend trained in CPR.

“You don’t want to go near where the water is falling because you could get dragged under and it’s hard for you to come back up,” De Leon said. “It just makes us feel more safe and secure to have someone who knows what to do and if you need to be pulled out or anything like that to have someone nearby.”

Griffith says the safest thing you can do is wear a life jacket, swim with a buddy, and avoid cliff jumping entirely.

“Because of ragedies like this happen way too often and the only way to prevent tragedies like this is to not allow activities like this to happen,” Griffith said.