The 10-year-old son of a Kansas state lawmaker was decapitated Sunday in an accident on the world's tallest water slide at Schlitterbahn, a Kansas City waterpark, witnesses say. The 47-page indictment pulls together internal emails, blueprints, recordings and interviews with key witnesses to paint a picture that Schlitterbahn marched the 17-story Verruckt ride in Kansas . Riders go down the slide in multi-person rafts. I want to be the first at the bar to buy a drink and I want to be the first to meet a pretty girl and I want to be the first at everything.. Caleb's heartbroken family were seen crying at the waterpark on Sunday (pictured left is a file image of the boy's father Rep Scott Schwab atthe Statehouse in Topeka, Kansas in 2015) Pictured right is the Verruckt safety board at the park, In an email Monday, Winter Prosapio, spokeswoman for Schlitterbahn, said the park would not be 'participating in any further media interviews at this time.' And he just kept saying, No, trust me, you dont want to go any further, she recalled. A 12-year-old boy died Sunday afternoon on the tallest water slide in the world, the Verrckt, at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kan. A park spokeswoman confirmed the death at a news conference Sunday afternoon. About 2,100 people took the courses last year, according to the Red Cross. Castaneda also said that he and his 14-year-old cousin had ridden the slide earlier that day and the teenager had told him that toward the end of the ride his velcro belt had come undone. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Instead, Prosapio offered a statement.The Verrckt accident was a terrible and tragic event and we cannot imagine the suffering that the victims and their families have endured, Prosapio said in an email. One little boy was screaming for help, Sanford remembered. THE10-year-old son of a Kansas lawmaker was decapitated while riding on one of the world's tallest waterslides, horrified witnesses have said. ', '(The boy) looked skinny,' she added. State Rep. Scott Schwab and his wife say their son, Caleb Thomas Schwab, died Sunday at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. Thrilryder29, "It is almost a concession that they screwed up. When Raul Dueas returned to Schlitterbahn for the first time since moving back to Kansas City from California, he thought Verrckt was too high. Would seem to require a harness failure, ejection, and striking the metal supports holding up the netting or some hole in the netting, if the outcome being tweeted is accurate. That poor boy had his whole life left to live. Two women, still strapped into the raft, were injured with another witnesses describing one as having blood pouring down her face. Knowing what I know about Jeff and John, I guarantee you those guys wouldnt put a ride into operation that has a risk of danger, said the expert, who preferred not to be named due to past work with Henry and Schooley. Instead of a classroom, Henry, whose first job was sweeping his familys resort for twenty-five cents an hour, grew obsessed with water and its possibilities as an engine of entertainment; by the time he was sixteen, hed build his first waterslide. August 2018 76. This content is imported from youTube. Just watching videos of this ride, thing looks crazy. "We don't have any news so far about our Kansas City park at the time," Prosapio told the Kansas City Star. Verruckt was certified as the world's tallest waterslide by Guinness World Records. If we mess up, it could be the end. I like to think theyre pals up there.. Looks to me to be on the downslope of the second, smaller hill: Why is there netting around the slide? Sign up for a new account in our community. It said the allegation that Caleb's death was foreseeable is "beyond the pale of speculation.". People on reddit were being as you'd expect ("Omg so unsafe I'd never ride"), but there were a few people who said they were there and that there was blood everywhere. Prosapio said during the news conference that the park's rides are inspected daily and inspected by an "outside party" before the start of each season. For decades, amusement parks have been exempt from federal regulation, leaving in charge state governments, such as Kansas, that offer little, if any, oversight. The death seemed like an isolated accident until whistleblowers from Schlitterbahn revealed that experts . Considering his love of sports and that his go-to question, Can I go play?, is engraved on his grave, its comforting to see Schwabs resting place close to the slides and basketball hoops at Heritage Christian Academy. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Those parks attracted about 85 million people in 2015, compared to about 73 million in 2004. Tyler Austin Miles, 29, was booked into the Wyandotte County Detention Center Friday morning after he turned himself in, jail records show. 'All of the regulations are really done at the state and local level with respect to amusement parks and waterparks. I feel really bad about this now, the nineteen-year-old told Esquire about that day, but I was joking with the lifeguard, asking her if anyone had ever died on this thing. When she said no, I said, Theres a first for everything.. Witnesses claim he went down the first drop then flew out and hit netting enclosing the ride at Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, US. "It's dangerous, but it's a safe dangerous now," Henry said in 2014. Lawyers also argued the grand jury shouldn't have heard testimony about another death at a Schlitterbahn park in Texas because it's not relevant to what happened here. She said her flotation tube collided with another tube during the descent sending her flying. A promotional video for a show about building the slide includes footage of two men riding a raft down a half-size test model and going slightly airborne as it crests the top of the first big hill. The corporation behind the Verruckt water slide in Kansas City and a former operations director who is being charged with manslaughter for the death of a 10-year-old boy did not have any proper . Police have revealed that 10-year-old Caleb Schwab - who was involved in a fatal accident at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City on Sunday - died of a "neck . A witness to the tragic death of a 10-year-old boy on the world's tallest water slide in Kansas has revealed gruesome details of how the boy died. I hope that they investigate the accuracy of the scale to clear things up. State law leaves it to the Kansas Department of Labor to adopt rules and regulations relating to certification and inspection of rides, adding that an amusement ride at a permanent location 'shall be self-inspected by a qualified inspector at least every 12 months.'. In early 2017, Schwabs family settled with Schlitterbahn and other companies involved in their sons death for nearly twenty million dollars. Schlitterbahns future also remains uncertain. The Red Cross swim app is also available, which is designed for children and their parents. Within a year, fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds suffered concussions. 'He shouldn't have been on that ride.'. TheVerruckt- German for insane - is the highest waterslide in the world. KANSAS CITY, Kan. A judge in Wyandotte County, Kansas dismissed charges in connection with the death of Caleb Schwab on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in 2016. Henry noticed something. So sad and I'm sending good vibes to his family. Seems rather odd for something like this, especially if that is what contributed to this? All of the regulations are really done at the state and local level with respect to amusement parks and waterparks. This is terrible. In a bid to impress the producers, Henry told them he was building the biggest, tallest, and fastest waterslide in the world. The comments below have been moderated in advance. The death of a 10-year-old at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas was even more devastating than could have been imagined with witnesses confirming that tragic child Caleb Schwab was decapitated while riding down the 168-foot-tall Verrckt slide! By April 2014, the Guinness Book of World Records officially declared Verrckt the worlds tallest waterslide, despite it not being close to finished. The safety of our guests is a priority, so in addition to the safety and what happened on the ride, our staff are affected. The front seat of the raft - where Schwab most likely sat - was empty. The Associated Press contributed to this story. "This is not something that we've experienced. It was not immediately clear why as 12-year-old was on the slide. They dont even talk about it anymore, really, the young employee said to me, almost embarrassed. The indictment says a video shows Caleb was following all rider instructions when he died. And so it sounded like you know they were gonna do something about it," Oberhauser said. On June 16, 2016, Norris JJ Groves, the owner of a towing company in neighboring Missouri, rode Verrckt with his wife and son, according to the indictment. 'There are no federal standards and so it really is up to the park operators, the manufacturers of the rides and the states to make sure this is a safe environment," said Deborah Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council.'. Kansas City police spokesman Officer Cameron Morgan said no police report was available of the incident and deferred additional questions to the park. Caleb Schwab was killed going down the 168-foot-tall "Verruckt" ride at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, Kansas last August. Dueas and his friend were egging on his son, Jeffrey, then eleven years old, to join them, but Jeffrey was scared. www.kansascity.com/news/local/article94254507.html. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Caleb Thomas Schwab, 10, died in an accident on theworld's tallest waterslide in Kansas City, Caleb Thomas Schwab was decapitated while on the ride with his family, including his father Scott Schwab, a Kansas state lawmaker, left devastated, Witnesses said they were devastated when they saw the blood streaked Verruckt slide, The waterslide in Kansas City is billed as the world's tallest and is 168ft high, The ride is named Verruck and translates to "insane" in German, Caleb was the son of Kansas Republican state representative Scott Schwab, Fire engines pictured at the scene of the accident yesterday, Those wanting to ride the waterslide must climb 264 stairs to reach the top, The ride uses rafts to hold groups of people as they fly down at speeds of 65mph, Republican Scott Schwab's son Caleb was killed while ridingon the Verruckt attraction at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. An excerpt of a first person account of riding the Verruckt water slide for the first time published by the Associated Press gave an idea of how uniquely terrifying the water slide truly could be. But officials scrapped the age restriction, deeming the height requirement sufficient. Not too far away, Nathan Schwab was waiting at the bottom of the slide for his brother, Caleb, to come down Verrckt. Criminal Murder Charges dropped in Schlitterbahn Waterslide Case where 10-year-old boy was decapitated during a ride at Kansas water park. There were also suggestions that the harness on the ride was not working properly. Were talking about a child who was decapitated. I said, Its a speed blaster. Well, it didnt exist. "Not only had Tyler ridden the slide numerous times, but, as the State is aware, he had scheduled his wife, to ride it on the day of the accident," the attorneys, Tom and Tricia Bath, said in their statement. In April 2017, the Kansas legislature, following an impassioned speech from Calebs father, strengthened a law on amusement-ride inspections that previously allowed amusement-park operators to not share private inspections with state officials, giving the state one of the weakest sets of regulations nationwide. But that wasnt the only thing that unsettled her. The Kansas City Star reported that Henry was taken into custody by U.S. marshals out of Brownsville, Texas. Jeffrey Wayne Henry, Schlitterbahns co-owner and the man who came up with the idea for the Verrckt. Meanwhile, an online fund has raised more than $25,000 to cover funeral expenses for the family. Holding on to a waterproof camera with his right hand, Dueas warily looked on at the Velcro straps, but there was no time to think about it. The child who died was the oldest son of Kansas Rep. Scott Schwab, R-Olathe. The park will be closed todayand the ride will be closed pending the investigation, Prosapio said. A 12-year-old boy died Sunday afternoon on the tallest water slide in the world, the Verrckt, at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kan. A park spokeswoman confirmed the death at a news conference Sunday afternoon. Witnesses at the time said he went down the first drop, then flew out and hit the netting that enclosed the ride. Standing on a platform more than 168 feet high and overlooking the flat entirety of the Kansas plains, Jess Sanford was scared. Nobody expects anything dangerous to happen; maybe pruned fingers or swimmers ear, but that's it. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. The slide won .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}Best New Ride (WaterPark) in 2014 and was voted the fifth best water-park ride in the world in its first two years by Amusement Today. In addition, the judge found that witnesses improperly testified about the 2013 death of a lifeguard at Schlitterbahn's South Padre Island water park in Texas, which he said would be inadmissible . Ride designer Jeff Henry looks over his creation, the worlds tallest waterslide named Verrckt at Schlitterbahn Waterpark, in Kansas City, Kan. July 9, 2014. The Kansas City park remained closed Monday as the investigation into what caused the death on the waterslide. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Such a tragedy. The ten-year-old was obeying all of the rider instructions given to him, but the raft that was carrying Schwab, Baetz, and Barnes allegedly had a propensity for going abnormally fast and going airborne more frequently than other rafts, according to an indictment that would be filed later. State inspectors reportedly last checked the waterpark in 2012, well before the Verruckt opened in 2014. She wondered to herself if the Velcro straps that held riders in place were safe enough on a waterslide deemed by the Guinness Book of World Records two years earlier to be the tallest in existence. 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