Shelby Lee Meyer, 21, of Festus died early Saturday (Sept. 21) after falling from a ladder at an apartment building in Columbia, where she was attending college, authorities reported.
“At this time there is no evidence of foul play; however, the investigation is ongoing,” Columbia Police said in a written statement.
Meyer, a junior at Columbia College and a member of the school’s volleyball team, was a 2017 graduate of St. Pius X High School, where she helped the Lancers win the 2016 state Class 2A volleyball championship.
After high school, she played volleyball for two years for Mineral Area College in Park Hills and then transferred to Columbia College for this school year.
St. Pius X Principal Karen DeCosty said she hopes people remember Meyer as more than an athlete.
“She was a good friend and a good student,” DeCosty said. “She’s just someone people looked up to, whether it was her teammates or students in the building. She was a kind person – kind to others – a good student, a talented volleyball player. She had a very kind, fun-loving spirit that would brighten a room.”
According to the Columbia Police, the department got a call around 2 a.m. about a fall at a residence in the 400 block of Hitt Street. Investigators learned that Meyer “was attempting to climb a ladder to the roof of an apartment building and fell off the ladder,” police reported.
Meyer was transported to a local emergency room for advanced medical care, where she died from her injuries, the report said.
She was the daughter of Paul and Trish Meyer of Festus.