Article continues below advertisement He posted a $500,000 bond and surrendered his passport. But instead of staying in its fiberglass flume and cresting the hill, the raft flew up into the air. The real Jeff Henry was not indicted. They both suffered minor cuts and scrapes on their face in the incident. Verrckt ( German meaning "crazy" or "insane", listen) was a water slide located at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City water park in Kansas City, Kansas, United States. A half century earlier, in 1966, a Houston accountant named Bob Henry toldhis wife, Billye, that he was tired of city life. To get even more ideas, he pored over the history of Roman aqueducts and leafed through Jules Verne novels. It lifted off the chute and went airborne, landing several yards away. One is a line from John 3:16. By 2017, attorneys for Schlitterbahn were meeting with the Schwab familys attorneys. Reporters from the San Antonio Express-News also revealed that in September 2013, Jeffs second wife, Louise Settree, had claimed in divorce papers that he had assaulted, battered, beat and tormented her during their nearly five-year marriage and that his use of alcohol and drugs had contributed to the horrific assaults. His treatment of her, Settree claimed, was so extreme in degree . By Timothy Bella. Caleb Schwab Death: Source Reveals Horrific Details of Boy's Water Slide Accident By Associated Press Nationwide PUBLISHED 4:32 PM ET Aug. 10, 2016 KANSAS CITY, Kan. A 10-year-old boy was decapitated as he rode a 168-foot tall waterslide at a water park in Kansas, a person familiar with the investigation said Wednesday. This is the best life I could ever imagine., Jeff was so busy with his own projects that he barely had time to go to New Braunfels High School, and when he did, he often showed up for class barefoot. Once again, Jeff and his siblings had no public comment, though Prosapio released another statement that said that Schlitterbahn was shocked by the indictments. He also heatedly denied allegations that he had been worried about Verrckts dangers as he was building it, chuckling mirthlessly when he told me hed been acting when he made his fearful on-camera comments, a few of which were quoted verbatim in the indictment. He told one reporter that Verrckt was an erotic piece of art and would go down in history as the most terrifying ride ever built in a water park. He told another reporter that he had conceived of Verrckt because he could no longer tolerate the thought of the worlds tallest slide being in Brazil. What Happened To The Boy On The Water Slide? It is a seriously dangerous piece of equipment today because there are things that we dont know about it, he said at one point. That would be like someone being concerned that Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg doesnt have a college degree, his brother told me. The safety harnesses are also raising questions. The slide is 168-feet tall and has 264. Bring on the Shiplap? The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission only has jurisdiction over traveling amusement parks, like pop-up carnivals. Those who reached him first "just realised he was dead and didn't try to revive him", she added. He always thought he was right., Yet Jeff made no apologies. Bearded and scruffy, he almost always wore a dirty, creased ball cap, an old fishing shirt, shorts, and muddy boots. But with cameras still rolling, more sandbag-laden rafts continued to fly into the air. In the water park business, Jeff was considered a genius of sortsan out of the box visionary of waterpark designs, wrote Tim OBrien in his 2006 book Legends: Pioneers of the Amusement Park Industry. "A lot of our math was based on rollercoasters at first, and that didn't translate to a water slide like this. Something more has to be done. Caleb Schwab, son of Kansas state representative Scott Schwab, was visiting the park with his father, his mother, and his three brothers, as Kansas elected officials and their families were offered free admission that fateful Sunday. Few details have been released about the death Sunday of Caleb Thomas Schwab, the son of a Kansas state legislator. When the case goes to trial, which isnt likely to happen for at least another year, Jeffs and Schooleys attorneys might use that very argument: that the employees who operated Verrckt made mistakes, such as ignoring maintenance problems, and that Henry and Schooley knew nothing about it. It was a matter of pride.. All that came from Schlitterbahn was a statement from company spokesperson Winter Prosapio, who said, We honestly dont know what happened. She added that Schlitterbahn was deeply and intensely saddened for the Schwab family and all who were impacted by the tragic accident., Kansas City reporters began digging. The 168-foot-tall Verruckt is one of the top attractions of Schlitterbahn. Magazines, Digital According to Texas Department of Insurance spokesman Jerry Hagins, the inspector is charged only with making sure that the ride is in sound condition and meets the manufacturers specifications. In other words, a water park is allowed to police itself. Caleb Schwab, killed Sunday afternoon while riding the world's tallest water slide at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City Water Park, was found dead with what police on Monday evening termed a. The slide would become the talk of the amusement park industry, he said. The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. On a 25-acre piece of property that the Henrys bought, three blocks east of the main park, he erected two rides that he had co-created with a former surfer turned inventor named Tom Lochtefeld. Every year, an estimated two million visitors go to the parks to plunge down slides, zoom through twisting tube chutes, and float and swim in man-made rivers and enormous pools. If we mess up, it could be the end. Tests were showing that the rafts were going too fast and the g-forces were so powerful that passengers might pass out. The second was the Dragon Blaster, a watery version of a roller coaster (a water coaster, Jeff called it), which used high-pressure jets of water to push tubers up and around chutes instead of just sending them straight downhill. Jeff Henry often said that his goal in life was to make customers of his familys legendary water parks happyto put a smile on their faces, to give them a thrill or two. It was a beautiful vision. EPR Properties, the real estate investment trust in Kansas City that loaned Schlitterbahn $174 million for its Kansas park, has warned its investors that the criminal indictments could hurt Schlitterbahns chances of repaying its loan, which might force EPR to foreclose on the park, along with the parks in New Braunfels and South Padre Island, which had been put up as collateral for the loan. Some Bahnophiles spend every summer weekend, or even entire vacations, at a Schlitterbahn. "His friend was screaming for help and I think that's when staff members and medics and stuff started running.". Dad Scott previously told Good Morning America of the last time he spoke to Caleb just before he set off for the ride, which has now been torn down. In 2006 the Henrys expanded again, opening a year-round park in Galveston with a retractable roof. Two women that were also on the ride suffered minor injuries. This was news to everyone, even at Schlitterbahn. Until it went horribly wrong. He said that if he was demanding and impatient, it was because he was consumed with making Schlitterbahn the best water park in the world. The 168ft-high Verruckt, which means "insane" in German, was certified as the world's tallest water slide by Guinness World Records. The idea for Verrckt came from 63-year-old Jeff Henry, who co-owned the Schlitterbahn parks with his older brother, Gary, and younger sister, Jana, and acted as the companys chief visionary, a conjurer of splashy joyrides. Our boat one hundred percent went off the tracks, one woman said. Plans to expand to other cities have been shelved. It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes . According to People. In five of the incidents, riders claimed they were injured while their rafts were still in the chute. Caleb Thomas Schwab, aged 10, died in a freak incident when he fell from the 168-foot-tall Verruckt ride at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. 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. After Calebs death, advocates urged officials to step in to change how the amusement park industry is run. In 1998 the New Braunfels Schlitterbahn was named the countrys Best Waterpark in a poll conducted by Amusement Today. It details the possibilities of what could potentially happen on the ride known as the Verruckt a German word meaning insane or crazy. That responsibility lies entirely with the states. The hoop sliced into his neck, and he was instantly decapitated. During construction, the men had ordered that a net be placed above the chute, propped up every few feet by semicircular poles, to keep people from flying out. . That day, Schlitterbahn was offering free admission to Kansas elected officials and their families, along with a buffet lunch, and the Schwabs, who lived in the town of Olathe, southwest of Kansas City, were thrilled. Although Jeff and Schooley said they used engineers and architects to help them design Verrckt, they also continued to depend on traditional trial and error. They had no immediate plans to build a ride using the cannon nozzle, and certainly had no plans to build it in Kansas City, until Jeff made his pronouncement to the Travel Channel producers. And the lawyers could argue that the two men were not criminally negligent. his wife, Billye, that he was tired of city life. . Miles answered, I have not, sir, according to the detective. Over the next two days, we spoke four times, despite his lawyers demanding we stop. The Henrys moved into a small house on the property, which they renamed the Landa Resort. However, the particular ride that killed a 10-year old boy Sunday remains closed. Today, August 7, is the fifth anniversary of his horrific death in August 2016. Were not sure how to handle Jeff. According to family legend, the superintendent then handed Bob a diploma. Two horrified witnesses have spoken out about the gruesome scene when a boy was decapitated by the world's largest waterslide. Industry veterans nicknamed him the Lord of the Slides and the Wizard of Wet. Suddenly, it was hurtling downward: it must have felt to Caleb as if hed fallen off a skyscraper. Even those werent enough to save 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, who was decapitated. We reported earlier about how their second oldest son, 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, died after an accident on the world's tallest waterslide: the 168-foot Verrckt. Theres a whole bunch of factors that crept in on this one that we just didnt know about., Whenever he did interviews for the TV show, Jeff seemed obsessed with Verrckt, as if it were his white whale. (One rider reported that her head had slammed into the headrest and she sustained a concussion when her raft entered the runout pool at a high speed.) [Schlitterbahn managers] would ask lifeguards who would want to volunteer, and no one would put their hands up . ), Man, are they hitting that net up there? I always set out to break all the records. Date: Today, 02:00:07 AM EDT. Caleb Thomas Schwab, . According to investigators, Miles hadnt even ordered repairs when a Schlitterbahn manager informed him, on July 15, 2016 (three weeks before Calebs death), that maintenance work on Verrckts brake system was a priority. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. You have reached your limit of 4 free articles. Read more about other injuries at Schlitterbahn in Kansas here. Had Jeff discovered his natural talents in almost any industry other than water parks, he might have had a harder time pushing the limits with his creations. Mum Michelle told the show about her eldest son's screams of terror after the fatal accident. Witnesses at the time said he went down the first drop, then flew out and hit the netting that enclosed the ride. | (Photo: Facebook) The Christian family of Republican Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab attended a worship service just hours before the lawmaker's 10-year-old son, Caleb, was decapitated on the Verrckt slide at the Schlitterbahn He said that he was never told about the eleven injuries on Verrckt prior to Calebs death, nor was he told about the 2016 maintenance problems. I remember hearing about the accident on the news and thought that the park was going to shut down. A humid breeze presses down on the dead summer grass. . The witness, Esteban Castaneda, said he heard booms before seeing the boy wash down the slide after the raft. On Sunday, ten-year-old Caleb Schwab died at the Schlitterbahn park in Kansas City while on a 168 foot high slide. That smooth ride ended on Aug. 7, 2016, when 10-year-old Caleb Schwab died on Verrckt. The boy's death a "fatal neck injury at the end of the ride." The two women riding in the raft with. It was a Sunday afternoon, August 7, 2016, the temperature a pleasant 78 degrees, as ten-year-old Caleb Schwab began the 264-step climb to the top of Verrckt, the world's tallest waterslide,. The ride opened anyway, with the weight range unchanged. Caleb Schwab, the son of a Kansas state . As he told Legends author OBrien, he relied on trial and error, because no models of what was supposed to be done existed at the time. Sometimes hed change his mind about a ride as he was building it and redesign it on the spot. According to park rules, a Verrckt rider had to be at least 54 inches (4 feet 6 inches) tall. The hoop sliced into his neck, and he was instantly decapitated. He later added another water coaster, the Master Blaster, that was six stories tall and filled with thrilling hairpin turns. I could die going down this ride., Jeff told me later that he was making such statements only at the behest of the TV producers. When the ride first opened in 2014, co-owner and Verruckt creator Jeff Henry told USA Today: "We had many issues on the engineering side. Some new details in the Caleb Schwab death are emerging with a witness giving her account of how the 10-year-old boy was killed on a water slide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas on Sunday. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. They would have to study such factors as the effect of water friction and even wind velocity on the rafts. I think they need to fix the jostling around like your neck gets pretty (shaken)around like really good and you hit your head a lot, a witness said. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. The two adult women with Caleb were severely injured in the incident. Another witness, who had gone down the slide earlier that day, noted that his cousins 14-year-old daughter, who was in the raft with him, complained that the Velcro on her safety belt had come undone, reports ABC 7 News. Waiting for Caleb at the bottom of Verrckt was one of his brothers, along with numerous spectators. You don't want to go any further'.". Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives. Scott and Michelle Schwab have spoken out for the first time about the tragic death of their son Caleb. KANSAS CITY, Kansas, United States The 10-year-old boy killed during a ride on the world's tallest waterslide was decapitated in the accident, a person familiar with the investigation said Wednesday. Caleb Schwab died six years ago in the tragedy at Schlitterbahn Park, in Kansas, on a water slide called Verruckt, which means crazy in German. Schwab boarded the raft with two women who were not related to him. But the first time, you dont know. She said: "He was screaming: 'He flew from Verruckt! KANSAS CITY, Kan. As more information comes out about what happened to cause 10-year-old Caleb Schwab's tragic death, the concern over amusement park safety grows. Caleb is 10-year-old boy from Olathe, Kansas. The actor Jeff Henry, who was trying to glamorize the ride, was indicted., Verrckt, he told me, is the state-of-the-art technology. Bob loved the idea of a water park. Questions remain over how exactly Caleb died, including whether the ride or safety equipment as well as the Velcro straps and belt holding him into the raft malfunctioned. Some states have agencies that inspect water parks; others rely on the parks own insurance companies to do inspections. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. They believed it was a valuable piece of evidence that should not be touched. To attract more customers, Bob erected two slides that dumped guests into the Comal. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Caleb Schwab was one of three passengers in the raft on the Verruckt ride at the Kansas city water park when he died. 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