Skydiver Sends Harrowing Message to Wife Before Jumping to His Death

A skydiver in Florida sent a video to his wife right before his death, according to local media reports.

Capotorto Vitantonio jumped from a plane on the morning of July 11 at around 10 a.m. local time. Moments before, plane crew members got a message from dispatchers on the ground, urging them to stop him—as he was apparently suicidal.

Costansa Litellini, 25, ran into the Skydive DeLand building in Florida, telling an employee that her husband was going to kill himself while sky diving.

She said she got a video from him, saying he won’t pull the cord and instead, “he was going somewhere wonderful,” police told the Orlando Sentinel. Mike Johnston, Skydive DeLand’s general manager, told the News-Journal that the warning came just moments after he had already jumped.

An employee, Tara Richards, said that she'd seen Vitantonio when he arrived and he “had seemed normal.”

The News-Journal reported that Vitantonio, an Italian national, had more completed more than 600 skydiving jumps. He and his wife worked for United Parachute Technologies—a parachute manufacturer in DeLand.

His body was found in an open field near DeLand Municipal Airport, police told ClickOrlando.com. Skydive DeLand has experienced five fatalities in the past four years, and it is one of the busiest skydiving facilities in the United States.