By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS – A Kannapolis teen who died Saturday afternoon after falling off a cliff at Stone Mountain State Park was known as a social butterfly at A.L. Brown High School.
Principal Kevin Garay said junior Chris Overcash, 16, was often seen chatting with students from all walks of life.
“People talk about students being popular and well known on campus and he truly was the epitome of that,” he said. “You would see him outside talking to friends who were into skateboarding, friends who were into music, friends who were into working out and running.
“He certainly didn’t meet a stranger on my campus.”
State parks spokesman Charlie Peek said Overcash, who was with a group of Boy Scout Troop 128 of Concord had camped overnight at the park, was about 100 yards off the marked trail on the mountain’s summit when he fell. The mountain is a 600-foot-tall granite dome.
Wilkes County emergency director Greg Hendren said the call for help came around noon Saturday. Overcash died at the scene.
Garay said Overcash’s outgoing personality will be missed at the school.
“He was very, very talkative,” he said. “He was also really inquisitive, he always asked a lot of questions.”
Garay said Overcash had an eclectic personality with interests in music, working out and scouting.
“I think that’s why he was so well known and had so many friends,” he said.
Overcash was enrolled theater arts, culinary arts and carpentry electives at the school.
“That’s a pretty interesting mix of electives,” Garay said.
Garay said he plans to meet with Overcash’s family today to offer support.
“The first thing I told our staff is that we want to be there for the family,” he said. “We also want to be there for the students.”
Additional counselors will be on campus Monday to assist students.
“It’s going to be a challenging week,” Garay said. “But we’ve had to be resilient with a lot of things we’ve faced, so we’ll continue to do that and continue to pull together because we really are a family at the school and these kinds of times illustrate that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.
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