Teen dies after falling from vacant high-rise used in Stranger Things filming

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The 19-year-old woman fell while exploring Emory University’s abandoned Briarcliff Building A in the early hours of Friday morning

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A 19-year-old woman died Friday morning after falling while exploring an abandoned Emory University building in DeKalb County, Georgia, which was featured as Hawkins National Laboratory in Netflix’s Stranger Things.

Police and fire officials responded to a fall at the Briarcliff Building, located at 1200 Briarcliff Road, around 1 a.m., where the woman exploring with friends was pronounced dead.

Authorities initially identified the victim as a “young woman,” but later identified her as Leah Palmirotto. Her hometown is currently unknown.

Investigators say the group likely entered the five-story Building A, built in the 1960s, by climbing over a chain-link fence. Officials have not said how many people were with the woman at the time of her death.

One parent said her son, part of a group that explores abandoned places, called her, saying he was in trouble, WSB-TV reports.

Emory University police have taken over the investigation.

The building may be internationally recognized as Hawkins Lab, the fictional government facility in Stranger Things where secret experiments on paranormal phenomena open a gateway to the Upside Down, sparking the show’s supernatural events.

The building was one of over 40 Emory properties available for film rentals, though its listing was removed Friday.

The building formerly housed the Georgia Mental Health Institute before Emory University acquired the property in the 1990s.

Emory announced in 2022 that the building would be demolished for a senior housing complex.

Demolition reportedly began in June, though explorers were still inside as of October.

Emory vacated the property in 2024, confirmed ongoing demolition, and said a private company will build the senior living community, adding that no-trespassing signs are posted and security is being increased.

Stranger Things filmed extensively in Georgia, mainly around Atlanta, using multiple locations to bring the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, to life.

Cities such as Jackson served as downtown Hawkins, while East Point provided residential areas, including the Wheeler and Sinclair houses.

Shows such as Ozark, Black Lightning, Sweet Magnolias, and WandaVision, as well as movies such as Fast Man, about astronaut Neil Armstrong, have all filmed at the eerie and versatile Briarcliff Building.

Volume 2 of the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is set to start streaming on Netflix Christmas Day, with the two-hour-plus series finale arriving on New Year’s Eve, both at 8 p.m. ET.

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