Posted 11/10/2007 04:47:00 PM by Douglas

What's worse, dying when your parachute doesn't open, or dying when your parachute doesn't open and nobody notices 'till the next day?

An employee of a popular skydiving facility in Brazoria County was found dead Friday afternoon, apparently killed after his parachute malfunctioned during a jump earlier this week.

Scott Bell jumped alone in the last jump Wednesday but wasn't noticed as missing because he is the person who checks people in before they jump and accounts for them after they jump, said Houston attorney Lee McMillian, the legal adviser for Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon.

When the 35-year-old didn't return to the hangar Wednesday night, people assumed he had simply walked home. Bell lived in a trailer on the facility property.

When Bell didn't return to the facility for a staff meeting Thursday morning, other employees were concerned but thought he had gone to a girlfriend's house and simply missed the meeting, McMillian said.

On Friday, a pilot noticed what looked like a parachute in tall grass about 200 yards beyond the facility's drop zone, McMillian said.

Talk about being the "last one" off the plane. . .