An American tourist plunged almost 1,000 feet to her death in Italy after stepping away from a safe mountain path to take a photograph, according to local reports.
Michaelle Alejandra Rubio Leiva, 36, from Florida, is believed to have left the marked route to reach a panoramic spot in the Dolomites, northern Italy, when she fell during last Saturday’s tragic incident, Italian outlet Corriere della Sera reported.
The communications manager was with her family near Forcella Pordoi, above Canazei, when she lost her footing, falling some 980 feet from an exposed section of mountain, according to local reports.
The tour party was walking to a cable car station to take them up to a famous panoramic restaurant on the summit of Sass Pordoi when the accident happened, reported il Dolomiti.
The pass is easily accessible by cable car, but difficult to walk due to its steepness and loose gravel, which makes it harder to maintain footing, according to reports in Italy.
Her horrified sister raised the alarm, and emergency services were scrambled, but Leiva was pronounced dead at the scene just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The family was part of a tour group exploring the mountains some 9,000 feet above sea level when tragedy struck.
Leiva’s relatives were airlifted to Canazei, where her body was brought later following the recovery mission.
Forcella Pordoi, part of the Sella mountain group, is surrounded by dramatic rock faces which make the UNESCO-listed Dolomites such a popular tourist attraction.
Leiva, who was born in Guatemala, graduated from Brigham Young University and was working most recently at a firm in Miami, Corriere della Sera reported.
She had also worked in multiple volunteer projects.
In 2025, Leiva moved to Rome to work as a digital nomad in consulting, although it wasn’t immediately clear whether she was still living in Italy at the time of the tragic accident.
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