Maleek Ayonrinde, a 21-year-old Bluefield State University student, drowned after jumping from Brush Creek Falls in Athens, West Virginia, during a university outing on September 5, 2026. He surfaced once after entering the water below the falls, then went under again and did not come back up. Search crews recovered his body the next morning, and a classmate who tried to pull him to safety has since been remembered by his family as someone who did everything he could.
Ayonrinde jumped from the top of the falls alongside several other students before submerging for the final time, according to West Virginia Natural Resources Police reporting by WV MetroNews. A fellow student on the trip, Kairyn Riley, re-entered the water and physically reached Ayonrinde, trying to pull him toward safety before Ayonrinde slipped from his grip, according to statements from Riley's mother reported by Daily Voice. Natural Resources Police reported Ayonrinde missing around 7 p.m. that evening, and he did not fully resurface in the pool below the falls, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
Overnight Search Gave Way to a Morning Recovery
First responders from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources dive team arrived at Brush Creek Falls around 8 p.m. that Saturday but could not begin underwater diving operations until first light the next morning because of dark conditions, per the same MetroNews account. The Division of Natural Resources swift water rescue team and Mercer County Office of Emergency Management crews recovered Ayonrinde's body around 9 a.m. on September 6, per the police report cited by CBS Pittsburgh. Brush Creek Falls sits roughly 30 miles south of Beckley, and the site is described in that report as more than 30 feet high.
Brush Creek Falls is in Mercer County. West Virginia Natural Resources Police officers operate under state statutory authority as the primary agency responsible for investigating natural resource, boating, and swimming accidents on public waters and in state parks across West Virginia, per that same reporting.
A Wrestler Who Had Just Transferred to Bluefield State
Ayonrinde was from Baltimore, Maryland, and had graduated in 2024 from New Town High School before wrestling for Neosho County Community College in Kansas, where he qualified for the 2025 NJCAA National Wrestling Championships at 174 pounds, according to Neosho County Community College Athletics and Daily Voice reporting. He eventually attended Bluefield State University, the Daily Voice account states.
Bluefield State University announced Ayonrinde's death with profound sadness, describing it as a heartbreaking loss for its university community, according to CBS Pittsburgh. The school highlighted counseling services for people needing support and said that people going through difficulties are never alone.
Not the First Fatal Drowning at the Falls
This is not the first fatal drowning at Brush Creek Falls. In May 2020, a 49-year-old man from Shady Spring, West Virginia, accidentally drowned at the same falls, prompting a response from the West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment and local emergency crews, according to WOAY-TV. That earlier case, alongside Ayonrinde's death, points to the currents and drop hazards that have repeatedly turned the popular swimming spot deadly.
Bluefield State University was established in 1895 as the Bluefield Colored Institute to educate children of Black coal miners in southern West Virginia, according to the West Virginia Humanities Council's e-WV encyclopedia. The university's enrollment figures are not included in this account. It remains unclear whether the September 5 outing to Brush Creek Falls included designated safety supervisors or posted warnings at the site.
