Woman falls to death sliding down escalator at Scottrade Center
By Jesse Bogan
jbogan@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8255
Oct 4, 2014 12:05 AM
ST. LOUIS • The Blues fan who died Thursday night at the Scottrade Center was described as a friend who could find the silver lining in anything and liked to make people laugh.
Melissa “Missy” Miles, 34, of south St. Louis, fell off an escalator on the second floor of the building, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at St. Louis University Hospital.
Police said the homicide unit was notified but that the fall appeared to be an accident.
Miles and a few friends had just watched the Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 and were thinking about going to a bar until traffic eased up. They were in good spirits.
On the way down the escalator, Miles was smiling when she hiked a leg over the rail.
“She straddled the rail, as if to slide down butt first,” said Robert Murphy, 32, speaking on behalf of his distraught girlfriend who witnessed the fall. “She went right over, face first, face down. She was completely unresponsive when she landed.”
Murphy said the group of friends initially thought she was joking when she attempted to slide.
“She is a person who is always trying to get people to smile and laugh,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like something out of the ordinary for her.”
Management issued a statement announcing “the entire St. Louis Blues organization is deeply saddened” and saying it is “working closely with the St. Louis Police Department to investigate the facts surrounding this tragic event.”
There was no report of a mechanical malfunction.
One night five years ago, an escalator near the Clark Street entrance of Scottrade Center suddenly sped up. Several of the steps collapsed into one another, throwing people into each other at the bottom. Authorities said 13 people were injured that time, none seriously.
There are three pair of escalators in the building.
Friends said Miles had been to a handful of Blues games.
She had two children. She had been dating Dan Franz since the 2011 World Series.
“That whole series is what kind of brought us together, just all the good times around it,” said Franz who lived with Miles in the 3800 block of Burgen Avenue.
He said she worked in payroll at Coinco, a company that makes coin equipment for vending machines. She enjoyed astronomy and live music.
“She was the most positive person I ever met,” Franz said.
Even when she lost her purse and passport in Cancun, he said.
“It turned out to be one of the best trips of my life,” Franz said. “She loved everything. The ocean. The ruins. She would notice the moon and the sun.”
Franz turns 28 today.
“We were going to do a lot this weekend,” he said. “She had this thing — it’s your birthday week, not your birthday.”
