Former Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar, 31, dies in rock climbing accident
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Gavin Escobar, 31, dies in rock-climbing accident: He and a female friend, 33, are found by rescue teams near Southern California’s famed Tahquitz Rock
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Ex-Cowboys tight end Gavin Escobar died Wednesday in a fatal rock-climbing accident while attempting to climb a mountainside near Idyllwild, California.
Escobar was climbing with another person identified as 33-year-old Chelsea Walsh.
And the pair were fatally injured near the Tahquitz Peak Fire Lookout, in the San Bernardino National Forest, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
The ex-NFL athlete was only 31 years old.
Officials did not immediately say whether rainfall earlier in the day played a role in the deaths.
Gavin Escobar appeared in 62 games for the Cowboys over four seasons in Dallas
Escobar caught eight touchdowns for the Cowboys and also added 333 receiving yards
The victims were fatally injured around 12:20 p.m., officials said and were reached by firefighters at 1:20 p.m., after two witnesses called 911.
They were pronounced dead on the spot.
Escobar worked as a firefighter in Long Beach after playing in the NFL from 2013-17.
He played four seasons with the Cowboys after being drafted by the franchise in the second round, and also had some time with the Ravens and Dolphins.
He leaves behind his wife and two children, the Long Beach Fire Department said.