BAYVIEW - Two people were killed on Sunday after the all-terrain vehicle plummeted off a cliff at the Bernard Overlook on Lake Pend Oreille.

Idaho State Police said Thomas W. McTevia was driving a 2013 Polaris and went over a cliff at the scenic spot overlooking the south end of the lake. The 42-year-old Coeur d'Alene resident and his passenger, Tina A. Hoisington, 45, of Lewiston were killed in the plunge.

Selkirk Fire Rescue and EMS Chief Ron Stocking said the side-by-side utility terrain vehicle was traveling with others when it got too close to the edge of a 2,000-foot cliff. Stocking said there were witness reports that the group may have been setting up for a photograph when the accident happened.

Selkirk Firefighter Britain Whitley rappelled 500 feet to the first victim and descended on foot to the second, who was 1,100 feet down the slope. Both were killed in the fall, Stocking said.

"There's just no way to get a grip around this. It is a true tragedy," Stocking said.

A helicopter from Two Bear Air Rescue was used to recover the bodies due to the ruggedness and remoteness of the terrain.

"It was just really steep with a lot of dead snags," said Chief Pilot Jim Pierce of Two Bear, a philanthropically funded air rescue service based in Whitefish, Mont.

Pierce said Two Bear began its day in Idaho by rescuing a lost mushroom picker in Clearwater County and returned to Montana for a lost Alzheimer's sufferer when it received the call from Bonner County.

"We go where we're needed," Pierce said.