Minnesotan's visit to New York City ends in fatal fall

Minnesota woman who was in New York City to see a holiday concert plunges to her death.

Last update: December 16, 2007 - 9:36 PM

A 21-year-old Minnesota woman who was in New York to see a concert at Madison Square Garden with a friend who had won the tickets fell to her death from her Times Square hotel room this weekend.

Jennifer Olson, originally from Bovey, Minn., accepted an invitation to join her new friend, Timothy O'Neill, in New York City for Friday's sold-out Jingle Ball concert, with a lineup including Alicia Keys and Avril Lavigne.

O'Neill had won tickets from a radio promotion through New York station Z100, a Clear Channel station similar to the Twin City's station KDWB, according to the New York Daily News.

The newspaper reported the two ate at Planet Hollywood in Times Square and then went for drinks near their hotel.

It's still unclear what happened later. A witness working across the street at the Millennium Hotel told the Daily News that Olson climbed onto the fire escape from her room at the Night Hotel on West 45th Street.

Police said Olson jumped 60 feet from the fire escape to her death.

Acquaintances said that Olson had been attending a dental technical school in Duluth.

Her father, Dennis Olson, of Bovey, said O'Neill and Olson had met each other only a few weeks ago and he didn't think they were dating.

He said the family is still working on preliminary funeral arrangements and is struggling to get her body released from New York.

The New York Post and the Daily News reported that Olson suffered from depression and was on anti-anxiety drugs.

ASSOCIATED PRESS, COURTNEY BLANCHARD

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