Mom Intentionally Drove Off Cliff, Killing Self and 3 Children in Idaho: Police

By Jack Phillips
October 29, 2017 Last Updated: October 31, 2017
Lucky Peak Lake, Idaho. (Screenshot/Google Maps)

Last year, when an Idaho woman drove off a cliff, killing herself and three children, it was deliberate, officials said on Friday.

The deaths in the June 2016 crash were called a triple-homicide suicide, the Ada County Coroner’s Office said, Fox reported.

Noel Bankhead, 40, allegedly drove her Land Rover SUV off a 50-foot-tall cliff before it plunged into Lucky Peak Lake. Her two daughters and son were inside the vehicle, officials said.

Bankhead, Anika Voermans, 13, Logan Voermans, 11, and Gwyneth Voermans, 8, were recovered from the lake. The car was pulled from the waters of a reservoir.

Witnesses told the officials that Bankhead’s car slowed down before she appeared to position the car in a manner so as to launch off the cliff. It then accelerated suddenly and dropped.

There were no mechanical problems discovered. They were unable to recover information from a device on the vehicle that records speed, braking, and acceleration.

Officials noted that Bankhead went through a divorce two years before the crash took place.

Toxicology tests found no alcohol or medications in her system.

“Witnesses later told investigators Noel Bankhead was driving her Land Rover northbound on Idaho 21, slowed down, turned on to Spring Shores Road, and positioned the car towards the cliff and suddenly accelerated,” Friday’s press release said, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Bankhead had been a paralegal and legal secretary. She and her ex-husband got married in 1995 but divorced three years ago.