Questions swirl over boy killed at Kansas water park
Published 1:30 am Monday, August 8, 2016
By Eric Adler, The Kansas City Star
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Leslie Castaneda of Kansas City, Kan., can’t get the aftermath image of Caleb Thomas Schwab’s death out of her head: The 10-year-old’s crumpled shorts or bathing suit at the bottom of the 168-foot-tall Verrückt ride, blood on the white descending flume of the world’s tallest water slide.
“I’m really having a tough time with it. I really am,” said Casteneda, who remained shaky Monday morning, after coming upon the scene inside Schlitterbahn Kansas City Water Park shortly after it occurred at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. “I saw his (Caleb’s) brother. He was screaming.”
One day after the tragic death of Caleb from Olathe, the second oldest of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab’s four sons, a family has been left in grief. Neighbors and friends are in shock. As police investigate details of the death, unanswered questions swirl regarding how the events of Sunday came to pass.
The Wyandotte County medical examiner was in the process Monday morning of conducting an autopsy, with no time set to release its results. Clint Sprague, the family’s spokesman during the tragedy and lead pastor at Olathe’s Life Mission Church, was meeting with the Schwabs Monday morning to discuss memorial and funeral arrangements. Schlitterbahn remains closed. A Go Fund Me fundraising page for funeral and other expenses has been set and has already exceeded its $15,000 goal.
What is known, according to those close to the family, is that the Schwabs had attended church Sunday morning and even debated whether go to the water park, given the cool weather, early clouds and a forecast for possible rain. When the sun came out, Scott and Michele Schwab took their four boys to the water park for a day in which admittance was free to families of area elected officials.
Soon after arriving, Caleb and his brother, Nathan, age 12, set off into the park with friends. Scott and Michele Schwab attended to their two younger boys. The parents were not on the ride with Caleb.
Many questions have not yet been answered. Among them:
• How exactly did Caleb die? Pending an investigation, Schlitterbahn has released no information about the death, including at what point Caleb was injured, whether it was at the top of the ride or along its descending path. Was he ejected from the raft, did he come loose from the raft or was he injured while still inside the craft?
• Did the ride somehow fail or malfunction?
• Did the raft containing Caleb meet the required weight and/or height requirement? According to Schlitterbahn’s website, the ride holds two to three riders per raft with a required combined weight of at least 400 pounds. Riders have to be at least 54 inches tall. At age 10, Caleb would have had to ride with two other passengers of adult weight.
• Was Caleb properly secured into the raft? Or did he somehow come loose or somehow unfasten his restraint? The rafts use a Velcro lap and a single shoulder restraint.
Casteneda said the death sent visitors at the park into disbelieving shock.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know happened,” she said. “There was a lot of looks of, ‘What’s going on?’ It was just a blur.”
