TAOS — Curly O'Connor remembers every detail of the day her son leapt to his death at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, from the crisp spring air flowing through the canyon to the necklace the 23-year-old was wearing before he tossed it aside, climbed the bridge's 4-foot-tall railing and let go.

Most of all, more than 11 years later, she remembers how quickly it all happened — how easy it had been for him to take his own life at the famous steel arch bridge. The "high bridge," as it's known locally, sits a dizzying 600 feet above the river below and is located roughly 11 miles west of Taos, offering an essential east-west thoroughfare for commuters and a sightseeing destination for tourists.

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