UGA student dies in hiking accident

A 23-year-old student scheduled to graduate from the University of Georgia next month died Monday while hiking a park in Connecticut with his sister, according to his obituary.

Authorities say William Cooper Gatch fell from an unmarked trail in Sleeping Giant State Park. Police said they found him in the woods where he died from his injuries.

The Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection’s Environmental Conservation Police said they are leading the investigation to determine the cause and manner of death. A preliminary investigation indicates it was an accident, according to a media release.

An obituary says Gatch graduated from Southeast Bulloch High School in 2021 and was expected to graduate from UGA with a bachelor’s in agricultural education. Neither school immediately responded to request for comment.

Gatch loved to teach, fish and tinker. He “was always able to fix anything, especially a two-stroke motor,” according to the obituary. He was a student teacher at Madison County High School and would often go to his grandparents’ home to fish for largemouth bass.

“The outdoors was a place that calmed his soul and where he could find peace; a statement that maintains truth even for his final moments,” the obituary reads.