He devised a complicated artificial river system that moved tubers from one major slide to the next so they would rarely need to leave the water to stand in line. The slide is 168-feet tall and has 264. During his senior year, the school superintendent went to his father and said, Bob, I have to be honest. The State of Kansas also agreed to throw in an estimated $200 million in sales tax revenue bonds. Over two years after 10-year-old Caleb Schwab lost his life on the tallest waterslide in the world, the amusement park industry has yet to fully reckon with the tragedy. I want to have the biggest, the tallest, and the fastest rides at my parks.. And, of course, they loved Jeffs increasingly daring rides. It was as horrible a moment as you could imagine, a person who was there told me. The video was taken two years before this weeks tragedy. In five of the incidents, riders claimed they were injured while their rafts were still in the chute. "I looked over and saw his broken neck and him sliding down the slide leaving a blood trail," a witness aid.. I listened to the wind rustling through the cedar, oak, and cypress trees, and then I noticed Amber staring at me. Senator's son, 10, was 'decapitated when he was thrown through raft harness and into safety net before plunging 50ft down the world's tallest waterslide'. Once again, Jeff later insisted to me that he had been hamming it up for the camera and that he did not in fact see a raft fly off the chute on opening day. Read more about other injuries at Schlitterbahn in Kansas here. The sounds of the park belowlaughter and shoutingwere nothing more than a faint murmur. But prosecutors could tell the jury that Jeff and Schooley knew very well that Verrckt could lead to a catastrophe, yet they continued to push forward. According to People. He apparently enjoyed smoking pot. 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, the son of Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, was decapitated Sunday on the Verrckt water slide at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City. (WFLA) The theme park with one of the most gruesome accidents in U.S. History is once again open for business. Even those werent enough to save 10-year-old Caleb Schwab, who was decapitated. I thought we had designed the biggest, baddest thing ever built, a ride that could operate safely and never have a serious accident, ever, if things were complied with and if the thing was maintained and operated as designed. Court documents stated that a team of experts who inspected the slide after Caleb's death found physical evidence that indicated that other rafts had gone airborne and collided with the overhead hoops and netting before the fatality". Then, on August 7, 2016, Caleb Schwab and his family arrived at the park. And that never worried the people around him. 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. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Riders were held in by nothing more than Velcro straps. It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes . . . 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 injury," PEOPLE confirms.. Still, neither Jeff nor his siblings offered any public explanation for what had happened. The 168-foot-tall Verruckt is one of the top attractions of Schlitterbahn. 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. Details remained murky about what happened on Sunday to Caleb Thomas Schwab on the 168-foot-tall "Verruckt" - German for "insane" - that since its debut two years ago has been the top . But with cameras still rolling, more sandbag-laden rafts continued to fly into the air. To get even more ideas, he pored over the history of Roman aqueducts and leafed through Jules Verne novels. Caleb Thomas Schwab, 10, died Sunday . The real Jeff Henry was not indicted. Decapitated 10-Year-Old. He would later attend the University of Texas and major in accounting. Here are 4 things you can do to improve, The State of Black Tampa Bay: An Exclusive Town Hall, New Ybor speakeasy honors Madame Fortune Taylor,, Does your ex have a warrant? You know the [raft] that went airborne on our ninety-footmodel in New Braunfels? And in Kansas City, even those who cared little for water or who couldnt afford Schlitterbahns $45 admission ($35 for children) would drive by the park just to get a look at Verrckt. A half century earlier, in 1966, a Houston accountant named Bob Henry toldhis wife, Billye, that he was tired of city life. Since then, several witnesses have recalled the tragedy, but now the boy's father is breaking his silence. Investigators laterlearned, however, that Schlitterbahn employees were required to submit regular ops reports about the rides they monitored and, according to reports that the investigators read, Verrckt had problems that were never revealed to the public. Soon, reporters from an array of media outlets, This 1981 Photo Essay Captured Why Being an Aggie Is Not at All Funny, The Legend of Old Rip Was Pretty Unbelievable, How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. Advocates say that lack of federal oversight, and the fact that regulations vary by state, is problematic since there is no uniform way to oversee the industry. 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 worlds tallest waterslide, which loomed like a colossus over the forty-acre Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City. Date: Today, 02:00:07 AM EDT. In a documentary, The Water Slide, footage showed rafts filled with sandbags repeatedly becoming airborne during testing. He asked the Henrys to build a Schlitterbahn water park in Wyandotte County, Kansas, which covers the western half of metro Kansas City. A humid breeze presses down on the dead summer grass. I always set out to break all the records. People got in line to ride Verrckt. To attract more customers, Bob erected two slides that dumped guests into the Comal. Our boat one hundred percent went off the tracks, one woman said. Caleb Schwab died in front of his family while riding a 168ft-high water slide in Kansas, billed as the world's tallest. Behind him were two young womenone 32 years old and the other 25sisters who lived near the Kansas-Nebraska state line. 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. 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. Authorities have yet to explain how it happened. He told his parents he had to try it. His head and body flew out of the raft and landed on the chute." Jesus. Magazines, Capture a Year of Painand Resiliencein Ukraine, Or create a free account to access more articles, What We Know About the Young Boy Decapitated on the World's Tallest Water Slide. The slide has been closed since Caleb's death on Aug. 7, 2016. At 168 feet 7 inches tall, Verrckt, which means insane in German, was taller than Niagara Falls. He had come to the park with his father, Scott, a state legislator; his mother, Michele; and his three brothers. That boat looked like it flew., He and Schooley added an extra five feet of height to the second hill to slow riders down and decreased the angle of its descent. After Calebs death, advocates urged officials to step in to change how the amusement park industry is run. This is paradise, Bob said, and he struck a deal to buy the Landa that day. I am appalled anyone would write such details with pictures (including arrows!!) As you can see, at the time it was shot, there were no safety nets enclosing the chute to retain the rafts. He later added another water coaster, the Master Blaster, that was six stories tall and filled with thrilling hairpin turns. A humid breeze presses down on the dead summer grass. After high school, Jeff opened a video arcade bar in San Marcos that he called the Too Bitter Bar, the walls of which contained painted murals of moons, watermelons, lips, and bananas. He sounded utterly distraught. Something more has to be done. After his death, it was announced . 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. 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. Jeff, Schooley, and the brother of Jeffs assistant piled into a raft. The hoop sliced into his neck, and he was instantly decapitated. (Schlitterbahn continues to manage the park. Caleb was a brown-eyed boy, his nose dotted with freckles. Bob, Billye, and the kidsGary, Jeff, and Janapiled into the familys Ford station wagon and drove to the Landa to give it a look. Caleb Schwab, the son of a state lawmaker, sustained a fatal "neck injury" at around 2:30 p.m. while riding the 168-foot-tall " Verruckt Verruckt Verrckt is a German word meaning "insane" or "crazy" and may refer to: Verrckt (water slide), a water slide at Schlitterbahn in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, formerly the tallest in . They would have to study such factors as the effect of water friction and even wind velocity on the rafts. When Jeff and Schooley erected Verrckt, the state charged, they had knowingly created a deadly weapon. Instead of using fundamental mathematical and physics calculations to design and build the ride, the two men had rushed forward relying almost entirely on crude trial-and-error methods. And although they realized that their finished product guaranteed that rafts would occasionally go airborne in a manner that could severely injure or kill the occupants, they went ahead and opened the ride anyway. Caleb Schwab, 10, Decapitated in Water Slide Accident, Police Confirm After a 10-Year-Old's Waterslide Decapitation, Why Were the Ride Designers Charged with Murder? They walked up the stairs to try the ride again. At the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival, you will find a palate-dazzling smorgasbord of cuisines and cocktails in which to indulge. The ride opened anyway, with the weight range unchanged. What are those large pyramids next to the Skyway? What happened to Caleb Schwab is a tragic and heartbreaking story. Some Bahnophiles spend every summer weekend, or even entire vacations, at a Schlitterbahn. The two other occupants -- Hannah Barnes and Matraca Baetz -- suffered. (At that point, there were fewer than a half dozen water parks around the U.S.) Jeff quickly got on the phone to tell Bob and Billye all about it. He added, Neither did Henry Ford, and he built the car., Jeff returned to Texas and stayed out of public view, splitting his time between a condo he owns in South Padre and a home he owns outside New Braunfels on a remote piece of property a short walk away from the grave sites of his mother and father. Jeff surveys his most extreme creation, Verrckt, shortly before it opens in 2014. You go back, you fix it, you make it work, you keep it safe, he said. Jeff often said that his goal in life was to make Schlitterbahn customers happyto put a smile on their faces, togive them a thrill or two, he told me during one of our conversations this summer. The video begins with a couple of thrill-seekers putting their lives on the line as they take a test run down the unfinished, open chute. aftermath image of Caleb's death out of her head. John Schooley, who designed the killer slide, and fellow co-owner Jeff Henry originally faced charges of involuntary manslaughter and a number of others over Caleb's death, but the charges were dropped in 2019 owing to "improper evidence and testimony". as to be regarded as atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community. (Jeffs attorney dismissed her accusations, claiming that such statements are common in contentious divorce proceedings. 82 thespeedofpain 2 yr. ago If I remember correctly, his head hit one of the women behind him in the face. The Henrys made no public comment. I didnt hear anyone mention the indictments in Kansas City. Today is the five-year anniversary of when Caleb Schwab, 10, died while riding a 168ft-high water slide in Kansas at Schlitterbahn Water Park. ET. They then headed to Kansas City to build the 168-foot, 7-inch Verrckt. For what is your life? City Employees Are Heading for the Exits. Before Jeffs arraignment, his 39-year-old daughter, Amber, from his first marriage, raced to a Walmart and purchased a suit for her father to wear. of what decapitated the poor child, the blood pooling at the bottom and where his brother stood. The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. 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. (The same netting system had been placed on Schlitterbahns Master Blaster rides.) Waiting for Caleb at the bottom of Verrckt was one of his brothers, along with numerous spectators. There are two Bible verses on the back of Caleb's headstone. Since the ride was torn down, former employees have alleged that both ride inspections and staff training were inadequate. Article continues below advertisement Verrckt, shortly before it opens in 2014 pictures ( including arrows! ). 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