Harrowing Words Teen Said Before Walking Off 120-Foot Cliff in Front of Horrified Father
It was meant to be a peaceful day of hiking—just a father and son enjoying nature. But what happened on that mountain trail would leave one man shattered and the world stunned. In a tragic and terrifying moment, 17-year-old Jacob Miller, disoriented and hallucinating, uttered a chilling sentence before walking straight off a 120-foot cliff—right in front of his father’s eyes.
The day started with promise. Jacob, a high school senior with a passion for nature and photography, had been looking forward to this hike with his dad, Steve. They chose a trail in California’s rugged San Gabriel Mountains—scenic but steep, beautiful yet unforgiving.
According to Steve, Jacob had been “acting a little off” that morning. He was restless, distracted. “He said he didn’t feel right,” Steve recalled. “I thought maybe he was just tired or had too much caffeine.”
But about halfway up the trail, Jacob’s behavior took a disturbing turn. He began talking to people who weren’t there. He looked around frantically, claimed something was chasing them, and insisted he could “see colors in the air.” Steve tried to calm him down, thinking it was just dehydration or heat exhaustion.
“I grabbed his shoulder, told him to sit down, to breathe,” Steve said. “But he just kept saying the same thing over and over: ‘It’s calling me. I have to go now.’”
Then came the moment Steve will never forget. Jacob looked directly into his father’s eyes and said: “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll fly from here.”
Before Steve could react, Jacob turned and walked straight off the edge of the cliff.
In seconds, the sound of his body hitting the rocks below echoed through the canyon.
Steve scrambled down, screaming his son’s name. When rescue crews arrived, they found Jacob had died on impact.
What made this tragedy even more horrifying was what investigators later discovered: Jacob had unknowingly consumed a powerful synthetic hallucinogen hours earlier. Toxicology reports showed traces of 25I-NBOMe, a potent and highly dangerous designer drug often mistaken for LSD. Jacob had taken what he thought was a harmless tab from a friend at a party the night before.
The drug has been linked to numerous deaths due to its intense hallucinations and effects on perception, including temporary psychosis.
Jacob’s death has prompted his parents to launch a campaign warning teens and families about the dangers of synthetic drugs. “We had never even heard of this stuff,” Steve said. “Now I have to live every day with the image of my son stepping off that cliff, thinking he could fly.”
A memorial cross now stands at the edge of that trail—facing the vast, open canyon where Jacob said his final words. It’s a haunting reminder of how one bad decision, one unknown substance, and one terrifying illusion can lead to irreversible loss.
