"I'm just jumping into this thread from the back end, but assume the above refers to that Hyatt Regency on Maui?...Mrs. Bat and I spent a week there and the balcony rails come up to about my belly button (I'm 5'11")"
The article I read specifically referred to the 9th floor room she is supposed to have fallen from.
http://www.mauinews.com/news/story/0116202004_new04police0116.asp EXCERPT
Friday, January 16, 2004 — Time: 6:22:59 PM EST
Police: No sign of foul play; investigation continues
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer
WAILUKU - While there is no evidence of foul play, Maui police said Thursday they are continuing an investigation into the death of a New Jersey cheerleader who fell from the ninth-floor balcony of a Kaanapali hotel.
Preliminary autopsy results show 18-year-old Lauren Crossan died of multiple traumatic injuries that could have been caused by the 80-foot fall, said acting Lt. Tivoli Faaumu of the Lahaina Criminal Investigation Division. But he said investigators haven't determined the exact circumstances surrounding her death.
"We are not ruling out anything at this point," Faaumu said. "We know the cause of death. We don't know the manner.
"A lot of thoughts are going through our mind. But at this time, we don't know."
He said toxicology reports, which could be available in a week or two, might provide more information for investigators.
Preliminary testing showed traces of alcohol in Crossan's blood, Faaumu said, but don't show her level of intoxication. He said there were no traces of drugs and no sign of sexual contact or other injuries indicating a struggle before her death.
"Nothing else we found at the scene indicates any foul play," he said.
Crossan, a high school senior from Randolph, had arrived on Maui on Sunday with two other seniors from her high school and the mother of one of the other girls. The girls were to perform with a crew of 450 cheerleaders from across the country at the Hula Bowl Maui Saturday.
In the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort, where the group was staying, Crossan had befriended a 20-year-old man from Folsom, Calif., Faaumu said.
"They were in the lobby enjoying Maui," he said. "They just arrived and they were happy to be here."
Later, Crossan ended up in the hotel room registered to the man and a 19-year-old man, also from Folsom, Faaumu said.
All three were drinking, Faaumu said, but police don't have information on where the three youths, who were all underage, obtained the alcohol. "It will be part of our investigation," he said.
He said Crossan made a telephone call to someone in her group at 1:34 a.m. Monday, saying she was OK and would be returning to her room in another tower of the hotel.
"There was no indication from her phone call that she was in distress or some sort of trouble," Faaumu said.
When she didn't show up at the room, her classmates and the chaperon searched the hotel but couldn't find her.
Police were called at 7:46 a.m. after a guest saw her body at the bottom of the Lahaina Tower of the hotel.
Starting at the lower floors, detectives knocked on doors above the area where Crossan's body was found before reaching the room of the California men, Faaumu said. He said Crossan's clothing was found on the floor of the room when police did a search at midmorning, and police believe she fell from the balcony of the room.
The railing was high enough that someone would have had to climb over it to fall from the balcony, Faaumu said.
The men reportedly told police Crossan had been in the room when they fell asleep, and they didn't know what happened.
After being arrested for questioning in the investigation early Tuesday, the men were released that night without being charged.
"They are free to go home or to stay here on the island," Faaumu said. "They were very cooperative with the police."
(snip)