Authorities spoke to a friend of Stearns', who told him that she sometimes goes to an area off Barker Street known as "The Wall" near the Chicopee River. Watch video
This is an updated version of a a story posted at 1:12 this afternoon.
Rescue personnel respond to steep area off Barker Road in Three Rivers Tuesday morning section to rescue a woman who suffered a possible broken arm and leg after a fall. PALMER - A 20-year-old Three Rivers woman had a close call after she fell off a cliff and plunged 40 to 50 feet below, possibly breaking several bones.
Danielle Stearns, of High Street, was found by Sgt. Erin Sullivan and Lt. John J. Janulewicz on Tuesday morning, after Stearns's mother called police to report that her daughter had been missing for several days and that she was concerned about her whereabouts.
Police said Stearns also took prescription narcotics with her.
Sullivan spoke to a friend of Stearns', who told him that she sometimes goes to an area off Barker Street in the Three Rivers section known as "The Wall" near the Chicopee River, Police Chief Robert P. Frydryk said.
The officers went to check the area, and found the woman's backpack and purse on a large rock overlooking a steep drop.
"We looked over the edge and there she was," Sullivan said.
Frydryk said the woman was 40 to 50 feet below the rock, and described the area as a vertical drop.
"She may have fallen off the rock," Sullivan said, adding the woman may have a broken left arm and broken right leg.
Police said she had been stuck there since 11 p.m. on Monday night. The officers had to be careful as they made their way down to the woman because they did not want to dislodge any rocks and injure her further.
Three Rivers Fire Department was called, in addition to Palmer Ambulance and Ludlow Fire Department. Frydryk said Three Rivers fire used ropes and pulleys to rescue Stearns.
"They did a good job," Sullivan said.
The chief praised his officers for their follow-up and thoroughness in investigating the mother's report about her missing daughter. If not for their actions, Frydryk said the outcome could have been far worse.
Stearns was brought to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. She was rescued just before noon.
Three Rivers Fire Chief Patrick J. O'Connor said it took about an hour to rescue Stearns because they had to secure cables and pulleys first. He said she could have been sleeping, and rolled off the cliff, or dropped something and fell as she tried to make her way down.
"Just trying to walk down there was treacherous," said O'Connor, adding that the wet leaves made it very slippery.
"She was on the verge of shock," O'Connor said about Stearns. "She told the police she tried to get up and couldn't."