Robert C. Wiles

This powerful photo taken by Robert C. Wiles was published as a full-page image in the 12 May 1947 issue of Life Magazine. It ran with the caption: “At the bottom of the Empire State Building the body of Evelyn McHale reposes calmly in grotesque bier, her falling body punched into the top of a car“.

We didn’t own a TV set in 1947. My family and I saw the newsprint version of this photo the next day. LIFE magazine a few days after that.