Glenwood Caverns Lawsuit: Verdict, Bankruptcy, and Appeal

The Glenwood Caverns lawsuit is a Colorado wrongful death case brought by the family of six-year-old Wongel Estifanos, who fell to her death from the Haunted Mine Drop ride at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park on September 5, 2021. A Garfield County jury returned a $205 million verdict against the park, the ride’s designer, and two operators in September 2025. The trial court later entered a final judgment of roughly $116 million, and the park’s parent company, Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2026 while signaling plans to appeal.¹

What Happened on the Haunted Mine Drop

The Haunted Mine Drop is a 110-foot freefall ride that opened at the park in 2017 and was billed as the first drop ride in the world to go underground. Unlike most vertical drop rides, it used a lap-bar and seatbelt restraint rather than shoulder harnesses.²

State investigators found that Wongel had been seated on top of both seatbelts and was holding only the tail of one across her lap. She was not buckled in at all. A warning alarm sounded before the ride launched, telling the operator that something was wrong with the seatbelt. The operator did not know how to respond and launched the ride anyway.³

Both operators had been employed at the park for about two weeks. Neither had been trained on the ride manufacturer’s operating manual, and neither understood the alarm system on the control panel. When the seatbelt alarm blocked dispatch, they tried repeatedly to override the mechanism before launching the ride with Wongel unbuckled.⁴ The state investigation found no mechanical issues with the ride itself and attributed the death to “multiple operator errors.”⁵

Who Was Sued and What the Family Alleged

The Estifanos family, represented by attorney Dan Caplis of the Dan Caplis Law Firm, filed the wrongful death suit in October 2021 in Denver County District Court. The case was later transferred to Garfield County District Court, where the park is located.⁶

The defendants at trial included Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC, the ride’s designer Soaring Eagle Inc., and the two individual ride operators. A successor manufacturer, Altitude Rides and Attractions, had also been named but was dismissed before the trial concluded.⁶ The complaint alleged that operators failed to fasten Wongel’s restraints, ignored warning lights, and overrode the safety system to launch the ride while she remained unbuckled.⁷

The $205 Million Verdict

Jury selection began on September 2, 2025, the same day the Colorado Supreme Court denied Glenwood Caverns’s petition to enforce the state’s statutory caps on non-economic damages. Closing arguments followed on September 19, 2025.⁶

The jury found all defendants liable and awarded $205 million in total damages, broken out as follows:

$82 million in non-economic damages, with Glenwood Caverns Holdings and Soaring Eagle responsible for nearly 98% and the two operators responsible for the remainder.⁷
$123 million in punitive damages, assessed against Glenwood Caverns Holdings and Soaring Eagle.⁷

A central finding at trial was that Glenwood Caverns Holdings and Soaring Eagle had failed to disclose previous problems with the ride’s restraint system and had falsely claimed the system met industry safety standards.³ In its post-trial statement, Glenwood Caverns pointed to the jury’s allocation of “significant fault” to Soaring Eagle, saying the manufacturer had built the ride with a “defective restraint system,” failed to perform required engineering and risk analyses, and concealed information about two prior ejections from the same restraint design.⁸

Caplis told reporters the verdict was about deterrence as much as compensation. “When it gets too expensive to do it wrong, they’ll do it right,” he said. “When it gets too expensive to do it dangerously, they’ll do it safely.”⁸

Why the Award Was Reduced to $116 Million

Colorado caps non-economic damages in most cases, and the statutory limit as of January 1, 2025 was $2.125 million. The trial judge applied the “felonious killing” exemption to that cap, ruling that the park’s conduct qualified and removing the limit entirely for the non-economic portion of the award.⁹ Even with the cap lifted, the court reduced the $205 million jury award to just over $116 million in a final judgment entered in November 2025.¹

Glenwood Caverns moved for a new trial. On February 6, 2026, Garfield County District Court Judge Susan M. Ryan denied the motion, finding that the company had received a fair trial.⁴

The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing

Three days after the new trial motion was denied, on February 9, 2026, Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The company listed estimated assets of $10 million to $50 million against liabilities of $100 million to $500 million, with the Estifanos judgment as by far its largest debt.¹⁰

Before the filing, the park and the family had entered a series of standstill agreements not to act on the judgment. The last of those agreements expired the same day the bankruptcy petition was filed. The park’s restructuring officer stated in filings that aggressive collection efforts by the family would likely force the park to shut down, putting roughly 100 jobs at risk. The park said it would remain open through the bankruptcy with “no impact to day-to-day operations or scheduled events.”¹⁰

Caplis called the bankruptcy “just another maneuver by the out-of-state company that owns Caverns to avoid responsibility for the felonious killing of Wongel.”¹¹ He said the family had offered to accept a “fraction of the judgment” if the park agreed to implement criminal background checks and drug testing for ride operators, safety measures he said the park had not adopted.¹² The bankruptcy case was later transferred from Delaware to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado under a venue transfer order signed April 30, 2026, and no reorganization plan has been filed.¹³

The Appeal and What Could Still Change

Glenwood Caverns has said it intends to appeal the $116 million judgment. In bankruptcy filings, the company’s restructuring officer wrote that “the Debtor intends to prosecute an appeal of the jury’s verdict and associated orders,” noting that its insurance policy covers appellate counsel.¹⁰ Insurance coverage is capped at $5 million, well below the judgment.

The felonious killing ruling is the fulcrum. If an appellate court reverses that ruling, the non-economic portion of the award would likely revert to Colorado’s standard statutory cap, which could reduce the judgment dramatically.⁹

State Fine and Regulatory Response

Separately from the civil suit, the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety fined Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC $68,000 in October 2021. The fine included two $1,000 penalties against the individual operators, Toby Williams and Steve Ochoa, for failing to ensure the passenger was properly buckled, and a $66,000 penalty against the park calculated at $1,000 per day over 66 days for failing to adequately train Haunted Mine Drop operators.¹⁴ The ride was ordered closed until staff were retrained and the Division re-permitted it, and it has since reopened under the name “Crystal Tower.”⁷

The Ninth Judicial District Attorney’s office also reviewed the case for criminal charges. In a January 25, 2022 letter, District Attorney Jefferson Cheney announced no charges would be filed, concluding that prosecutors could not prove “beyond a reasonable doubt any one person or entity acted with criminal negligence or was criminally reckless.”¹⁵

1
Glenwood Springs Post Independent. Glenwood Caverns Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Following 116M Verdict
2
Adventure Park Insider. Six Year Old Dies on Mine Drop Ride
3
Colorado Public Radio. Jury Awards 205 Million Estifanos Family Lawsuit Glenwood Caverns
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Aspen Daily News. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Owner Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
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Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Media Advisory: Division of Oil and Public Safety Releases Report of Findings
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Aspen Daily News. Jury Awards 205 Million in Glenwood Caverns Death
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Glenwood Springs Post Independent. Jury Awards More Than 200 Million in Glenwood Caverns Wrongful Death Lawsuit
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9News. Jury Verdict Lawsuit Glenwood Caverns
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Green Tagged Show. Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Files for Bankruptcy: What It Means for the Industry
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Colorado Public Radio. Glenwood Caverns Settlement Bankruptcy Lawsuit Wongel Estifanos Death
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Western Slope Now. Family Attorney Says Glenwood Caverns Bankruptcy Is Maneuver to Avoid Responsibility in Child’s Death
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CBS News Colorado. Family Attorney Amusement Park Death Bankruptcy Glenwood Caverns
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PACER Monitor. Glenwood Caverns Holdings LLC
14
The Gazette. Colorado Fines Glenwood Caverns Park in Girl’s Death
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Denver7. Family Says Criminal System Failed Our Daughter After No Charges Filed in Glenwood Caverns Death