GARFIELD COUNTY, Colo. — A jury has awarded over $200 million to the family of a six-year-old girl who tragically died in a fall from a ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in 2021. The family had filed a wrongful death suit in October of that year, and the jury reached a verdict on Friday, determining that the family would receive $205 million.
The lawsuit targeted both Glenwood Caverns Holdings, LLC, the parent company of the amusement park, and the ride’s manufacturer, Soaring Eagle, Inc. Wongel Estifanos fell 110 feet from the Haunted Mine Drop ride on September 5, 2021. The ride, which plunges riders down a mine shaft, was closed for several days following the incident.
An investigation by state officials revealed that the operators of the ride were not adequately trained to identify issues with the ride’s seat belts. They failed to secure Estifanos’s seat belt before the ride commenced. Instead of being properly fastened, the young girl had been sitting on an unlatched seat belt, which had been locked together from a previous ride. The ride’s system indicated a problem with the seat belt rod, which was not detected by the operators, who did not realize that Estifanos was merely holding the tail of the seat belt over her lap.
The Estifanos family pursued legal action against the park amidst the turmoil of the incident. In January 2022, the Ninth Judicial District Attorney, Jefferson J. Cheney, announced that no criminal charges would be filed due to insufficient evidence of criminal negligence or recklessness.
Dan Caplis, the attorney representing Wongel’s parents, characterized the jury’s decision as a clear acknowledgment of the circumstances surrounding their daughter’s death. He added that for years, the amusement park had denied any responsibility for the incident.
Caplis expressed gratitude towards the jury for their attention to the evidence, stating that Wongel’s family hoped to uncover the truth and ensure safety for other families at amusement parks. He also acknowledged the community’s compassion during the prolonged trial.
In response to the verdict, Glenwood Caverns released a statement conveying their condolences to the family and others affected by the tragedy. The park emphasized that significant fault was attributed to Soaring Eagle, alleging that the company manufactured the ride with a defective restraint system and had falsely certified that all safety standards were met.
According to the park’s statement, Soaring Eagle had previously been aware of two other ejections occurring from the same restraint system design but chose to conceal that information. Furthermore, the park claimed that the financial implications of the jury’s decision could jeopardize its future operations and hundreds of local jobs.
Glenwood Caverns expressed its sorrow over the incident and indicated that it had engaged independent engineers to redesign the ride in the wake of the tragedy.
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