Eli Ruiz | Democrat The main hotel at Kutsher’s, where a 21-year-old woman fell to her death early Friday morning.

Tragedy at Kutsher’s

Story by Eli Ruiz
MONTICELLO — October 15, 2013 — A 21-year-old woman died early Friday morning when she fell five stories from the roof of one of the structures comprising the Sullivan County landmark Kutsher’s Hotel.
According to an official press release, at approximately 12:15 a.m., State Police in Liberty were called to the Kutsher’s in Monticello for a report of a woman who had fallen from the roof of one of the hotel buildings. An investigation revealed that Megan Dunleavy, age 21 of Redding, Connecticut, had fallen accidentally from the five story roof and subsequently succumbed to her injuries. No foul play is suspected.
Dunleavy had been staying at Kutsher’s while working for a concert promoter, Damn Sam Productions (DSP), and assisting in the organization and planning of the New York Harvest Festival and Freedom Fair, scheduled for October 11–14. She was a senior at Hartwick College studying chemistry.
The scheduled festival was promptly canceled after the incident and attendees and employees could be seen Friday hurriedly packing their wares and belongings. The Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson was rumored as an alternate site for the event, but promoters were reportedly turned away.
Damn Sam Productions was founded in the early 1990s in Beacon and was, as its website claims, “further developed at the famous Arrowhead Ranch in Parksville, NY.” The site further claims, “DSP was founded to raise money for pro-freedom activism in NY and beyond. The money raised at Harvest Fest and other Damn Sam ventures is used to fund select organizations and actions.”
A Damn Sam employee on the scene of the accident, who asked that his name be withheld, said, “She was a good friend of mine. It’s just so sad. She was amazing and I just want to grieve her but my focus right now has to be the job at hand.”