A theme park has filed for bankruptcy after a six -year-old girl fell more than 100 feet to her death from a ride.

The child, aged just six, fell from the Haunted Mine Drop ride, which was designed with no shoulder restraints, allegedly to make the ride “more scary”.

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Six-year-old Wongel Estifanos diedCredit: GoFundMe
 

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Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park
Now, the company that owns and operates the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Colorado has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a $116 million wrongful death judgment tied to the 2021 Haunted Mine Drop accident.

The company – Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC – filed the suit on Monday February 9 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware – five years on from the incident, and following the conclusion of the subsequent court case at the end of 2025.

In November last year, a Garfield County jury found the park “partially responsible” to the death of six-year-old Wongel Estifanos, who lost her life on the ride after nearly seven hours of deliberation.

Defendants Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC, the parks parent company, Soaring Eagle, the designer of the ride, and the two individuals operating the ride were found liable in the death of the young girl, reported the local outlet the Post Independent.

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The court heard how the little girl visited the theme park with her family from Colorado Springs, but was not securely strapped into the then named “Haunted Mine Drop,” a 110-foot freefall ride — later renamed the “Crystal Tower.”

An investigation into the incident by police reportedly determined that the six-year-old was sitting on top of her seatbelt and was not secured when the ride began.

The park was fined $68,000 by the state following the accident.

In October 2021, the Estifanos family filed a wrongful death civil action lawsuit to the Denver County District Court, alleging that operators “failed to fasten restraints, ignored warning lights, and overrode the system to launch the ride.”

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The jury ruled the defendants owed $82 million in non-economic damages to the Estifanos family and $123 million in punitive damages.

Soaring Eagle and Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC were found responsible for nearly 98 per cent of the $82 million in non-economic damages while the remainder fell onto the two ride operators.

Both companies were also held liable for the $123 million in punitive damages in the final judgement issued in November 2025.

Punitive damages are added on top in lawsuits when compensation is deemed insufficient,

The final amount totalled more than $116 million against the company but recent bankruptcy filings indicated that the park carries about $5 million in liability insurance, far less than the judgment amount.

Glenwood Caverns confirmed the bankruptcy filing in a statement, adding that despite this, it will continue operating.

“Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware today following the recent judgment against it stemming from a tragic accident that occurred there in 2021,” the park said.

“The Chapter 11 process will allow Glenwood Caverns to continue operating while creating a structured, court-supervised process that ensures fairness and transparency as it pursues reorganization.”

Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue operating while reorganizing its finances under court supervision and pausing most collection efforts from creditors.

The park also acknowledged the Estifanos family.

“We recognize the unimaginable loss of the Estifanos family,” the statement said. “Our decision to pursue Chapter 11 is the most responsible path to stabilize the business, preserve operations and maintain the value for the benefit of all parties.”

Park officials said operations and scheduled events will continue as normal.

“The park will continue to operate as usual, with no impact to day-to-day operations or scheduled events,” the statement said.

At the time of the girl’s death, it was reported that the amusement park ride had been designed without shoulder restraints.

Stan Checketts, who designed the ride, told KDVR in 2017 that bosses took the decision to make it “more exciting”.

The ride takes less than three seconds to drop and falls 110 feet.

He said: “We don’t put shoulder restraints on the side of your head, which makes it a little bit more scary.

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“Usually as a rule every ride that I’ve ever designed with my team and built with my team, I’m the first one to ride it.”

Checketts founded and sold S&S Sansei, which is one of the largest ride designers’ in the world.

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The Haunted Mine Drop is shown in this July 2017 file photo at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colorado (Chelsea Self/Glenwood Springs Post Independent via AP, File)Credit: AP:Associated Press
Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/15924616/theme-park-bankruptcy-six-year-old-girl-death/