he boy was the son of state Rep. Scott Schwab, and he and his family had been at the park as part of a day celebrating local lawmakers.
Charlie Riedel / AP
The investigation into his death remains ongoing, as are those launched by attorneys for his family and two other women who were injured on the ride, the Kansas City Star reported.
Lawsuits related to the boy’s death and the women’s injuries have not been ruled out; the Schwab family has said they want to ensure nothing like their son’s death can ever happen again.
The park spokesperson said on Tuesday that they continue to cooperate fully with the investigations.
“In our 50 years of providing an environment for families and friends to gather, we’ve never experienced this kind of devastating event,” the Schlitterbahn spokesperson said. “The safety of our staff and our guests is our top priority. We are parents and grandparents ourselves and many of us have ridden Verrückt with our own children and grandchildren over the years it operated.”
The company, which also operates four water parks in Texas, has not yet said what will take Verrückt’s place.
The slide opened in 2014 after delays related to engineers fine-tuning its safety features. In the ride, rafts holding several people secured with Velcro seatbelts shoot down a 17-story drop at a near free fall, then slide up a 55-foot-tall hill before dropping again.
“It’s dangerous, but it’s a safe dangerous now,” Schlitterbahn co-owner Jeff Henry told USA Today in 2014.