Woman Clutching Her Dog Leaps From 46th Floor Of Posh Building In Apparent Suicide

Police have retrieved the body of a 60-year-old woman who reportedly jumped from the roof of her 46-story luxury Midtown building while holding her rescued pet dog on Friday afternoon, leaving both of them dead.

The woman, Linda Holston, 60, had just finished eating her last meal on top of The Victory at 561 10th Avenue near 41st Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan when she jumped to her death with her 16-and-a-half years old pooch named Jake in tow just before 1 p.m., according to Fox News.

New York City Police Department authorities said Holston had left a note which discussed her struggles with stress as they moved to visit her apartment to investigate after the incident. They also found bottles of medication for an undisclosed illness.

The woman moved to Manhattan in 2017 from New Mexico, where she acted in community theater before she studied acting at the William Esper Studio and capped off the program in 2019. She graduated from the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in California in 1981.

A receptionist at Pure Paws Veterinary Care on East 42nd Street said Holston brought her rat terrier pooch to the practice for regular care.

Holston also had a stint in acting, securing a role in a short film called “Larry Larissa Linda” and another in a TV show titled “Conversations in Apartment 3A.” In 2019, she appeared in an off-Broadway play titled “The Accidental Awakening," according to the New York Post.

Preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that the number of suicides in the United States plunged by 5.6 percent in 2020, down from 47,511 in 2019 to 44,834 in 2020. Critics of COVID-19 lockdown measures have suggested those safety protocols would drive the suicide rate higher.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention notes that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S with 130 suicides logged per day on average in 2019, the Daily Mail reported.

Anyone considering suicide should contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or can chat with someone live on its website.