From Kitten Rescuer to Darwin Awards Candidate

I used to think those baby falling into a 5 gallon pail labels were pretty silly. But now we're going to have to have similar labeling for adults and kittens for 55 gallon drums, thanks to a New Mexico woman who drowned while trying to retrieve a kitten from a 55-gallon rain barrel at her home southeast of Santa Fe.

According to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, the 48-year-old woman, Deborah Hill, and her husband had dragged the plastic barrel inside their home to thaw ice that had formed in the barrel.

The barrel was tied to a door so it wouldn't tip, and was about one-third full of water when the kitten fell in. Hill apparently was standing on something to reach down for the kitten when she slid in.

Detectives said the kitten is alive, and most likely climbed out over Hill.