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Friends remember

Couple who fell off building remembered

(Columbia) - Friends of the two people who died Wednesday when they fell off a downtown Columbia rooftop are speaking out about the kind of people they were.

The victims, 21-year-old Brent Tyler of Hilton Head and 21-year-old Chelsea Tumbleston of the Isle of Palms, died when they fell off the Palmetto Armory building on Laurel Street around 5 a.m. Wednesday.

An autopsy Thursday confirmed that the two died from the fall, and not from any injuries prior to the incident.

Tyler and Tumbleston both worked at the Wild Wings location in the Vista. Tumbleston also worked at the location in Harbison.

Brian Corey says he was a friend of Tyler for three years, and worked at the restaurant with him.

"I'm still in shock," says Corey. "It's kinda one of those things you just really don't know how to answer ever, no matter if it's a friend or family. It's never really easy."

Corey says the two had met in Hilton Head, and would hang out together. "He was a great kid. Very fun to work with him. He always turned every situation around, and was able to make everyone laugh. A really good kid."

Deanne Morris had known Tumbleston for four years, and had been her roommate for the last year.

"She was my tv buddy, she was my cooking buddy, she was my heart and soul," says Morris. "She was my everything."

"She was a good daugther, sister, friend, that would just brighten anyone's heart," says Morris. "Whatever room she was in, everywhere she went, she made friends. Good friends. She was always there for anybody and everybody."

Columbia Police Chief Dean Crisp says Tyler and Tumbleston were found by a taxi driver in one of the lanes of the 900 block of Laurel Street around 5:30 a.m.

Sergeant Florence McCants says the victims fell 50 to 60 feet from the sloping metal roof of the Palmetto Armory Building. They were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, and died a short time later. Crisp says the victims were found nude.

Police say there was no evidence of alcohol or drugs at the scene.

At this point, it appears the two got onto the roof by an adjacent parking garage. That's where officers say they found what they believe are the victim's clothes.

Naomi Mosley and her husband occasionally sleep at the parking garage where the couple gained access to the roof. She says she saw at least some of what led up to the deaths.

"I was getting up, packing up my stuff to get it out of the place," she says, when she noticed a young, nude couple arrive in a car, and climb onto the roof.

"When they came in, they was laughling, laughing and happy," says Mosley. "Her arm was up in the air, and he was pulling her up. He said 'baby I got you.'"

"If I could have gave them a warning, and tell them that's dangerous, go some other place," she says in retrospect.

Instead, Naomi says she and her husband decided to just mind their own business. They packed up their belongings and exited the parking garage around 5:30 a.m.

She then saw the taxi cab driver who found the bodies. Police were arriving to block off the streets.

"I said Lord God, I hope they gave their soul to you."

Naomi says it's a sight she wishes she'd never seen.

"Right now, I feel heartache that it happened. Because I don't want my worst enemy to fall off no roof like that."