Investigators sent to Schlitterbahn water slide in KCK where Olathe boy died

Investigators working for the family of the 10-year-old boy killed on Schlitterbahn’s towering water slide and the two women injured riding a raft down the Verrückt with him have been examining the site this week.

On Wednesday, “independent experts” studied the slide where Caleb Schwab was killed a month earlier, said attorney Lynn Johnson. His Kansas City law firm, Shamberg, Johnson & Bergman, represents Hannah Barnes and Matraca Baetz. The two women suffered facial injuries on the ride that killed Caleb.

On Thursday, Johnson said, a crew used digital tools at Schlitterbahn to chart the precise dimensions of the world’s tallest water slide.

Johnson said his firm is teamed with the Leawood law firm Bartimus, Frickleton & Robertson and another law firm representing the Schwab family. Together, he said, they hired experts to study the slide.

“We had various experts there and there were various other people there,” Johnson said. “We, meaning the Schwab family attorneys and our firm, had independent experts that were there to inspect the slide, the boats, etc.”

He said Schlitterbahn has been cooperating with the law firms’ independent investigation.

Neither the women who were injured nor the Schwab family have filed a lawsuit in the case.

Johnson said the law firms are still waiting “for the release of the investigation by the police and various other information.”

He said his law firm has not obtained a video of the accident. He would not comment on whether the lawyers have viewed any video of the accident.

Michael Rader of Bartimus, Frickleton & Robertson said in an email that on Wednesday and Thursday a “team of experts for the Schwab family inspected the Verrückt water slide followed by an inspection of the raft that is still in police custody. We are hopeful to be in a position in the near future to answer many unanswered questions about why and how this happened.

“Experts,” he continued in the email, “are investigating not only the design, construction and operation of the water slide, but also safety issues concerning the structural engineering, the raft and its harnesses.”

Legal experts have said that various incentives, particularly for both Schlitterbahn and any potential plaintiffs in a wrongful death or a personal injury lawsuit to avoid trial costs, might mean the cause of the accident won’t necessarily be made public.

Schlitterbahn shut down the slide after the accident. It has not said if it plans on reopening the slide in the future. The Kansas City, Kan., park closed Tuesday at the end of its summer season.

In an email, a spokeswoman for Schlitterbahn said that on Wednesday “the investigation continued with experts on site including those representing Schlitterbahn, the families, and (the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department). As we have stated from the beginning, we are conducting a full investigation and cooperating fully with all investigative teams. No person will be riding the ride during the investigation.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Investigators sent to Schlitterbahn water slide in KCK where Olathe boy died."