The June 9 death of a Bountiful teenage girl on the Lagoon roller coaster was a fluke combination of her physique, actions and the laws of physics, according to the Farmington police detective who investigated the incident.
Some controversy has swirled around the girl's death and the ensuing investigation, and Detective Sgt. Jeff Jacobson said Wednesday he wants to clear the air and put the incident to rest."In effect, it was a quirk of physics, combined with what the girl did and her height and weight," said Jacobson, who re-created the incident using a girl with a physique similar to that of 13-year-old Kilee King. King was 5 feet 3 inches tall and slim, weighing 71 pounds.
King had a season pass to Lagoon and had ridden the coaster numerous times before the accident. She was riding the coaster with several friends from South Davis Junior High and was in the first car of the coaster train with another girl.
According to Jacobson, as the car crested the second hill on the ride, King had her hands in the air and had straightened her legs as the car began its downward plunge.
"My investigation shows that Kilee had ridden the coaster many times and discovered that this action, the lifting of the hands and straightening of the legs, caused her rump to leave the seat as the car started its sharp downward turn," Jacobson said.
"Always in the past, the restraining bar had caught her across the thighs and held her in the car. But this time, as the car reached the apex of the turn, the bar didn't catch her and she went forward," explained Jacobson.
King's inertial energy would continue to propel her up and forward in the direction of the ride even as the car made a sharp turn and plunged down, according to the detective.
"That's where this quirk of physics comes in. Kilee was still going up and forward when the car changed direction and, in this one case because of her physical size, her actions and just the timing of it, the bar didn't restrain her. The car literally fell out from under her," said Jacobson.
King continued her forward motion and with her hands up gave the appearance of diving forward and over the front of the car, Jacobson said. She landed on the tracks in front of the coaster and was struck by at least two of the cars before falling through the tracks to the ground, 35 feet below.
Jacobson said the medical examiner's report attributes her death to the fall, which broke her neck and back, and not to the injuries King suffered when she was struck by the cars.
"She did not stand up," Jacobson said of his conclusion about the accident and the cause cited by Lagoon management. "She was not pushed out of the car and she did not commit suicide," he said, referring to some other rumored causes.
"It was a combination of her weight and her height, what she did and the physics of the ride," Jacobson said.
Jacobson confirmed the restraining bar in the car was in place and did not come loose.
Lagoon spokesman Dick Andrew said his understanding of how the accident occurred is not inconsistent with Jacobson's findings but said he has not seen the detective's final written report.
"I don't disagree it was a fluke of physics," Andrew said. "I feel, based on the briefing I had, that she had her feet on the floor and straightened her legs, pushing up and bracing herself against the back of the seat to maximize the lift, trying to draw some air, as they call it," said Andrew.
"That's why we described her action as being in the process of standing up, but standing up is impossible because of the restraining bar," he said. "But we think it was a standing, pushing, lifting kind of thing she was doing."
Andrew said Lagoon shifted the seats forward on the coaster cars before the ride reopened to prevent that type of incident from happening again.
The detective acknowledged that not releasing his findings earlier has contributed to rumors and charges that the case was covered up.
Jacobson said he didn't release his report initially on advice of the Davis County attorney's office and partially because of what he said was inaccurate and inflammatory media coverage of the death of a 6-year-old boy on a children's roller coaster at Lagoon in May.
"There is no cover-up. I've heard those rumors too, and I want to put that to rest," Jacobson said.
Jacobson said there is no conflict of interest in the Farmington police department investigating incidents at Lagoon, which is a major financial contributor to the city through property and sales taxes.
"That has no effect on our department. When I go in to do an investigation I'm there to find out the facts. I'm there to find out why someone died and to determine if there was criminal negligence.
"In this case, we found no criminal negligence on the part of Lagoon," Jacobson said.
Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson acknowledged Wednesday that incidents involving Lagoon are handled carefully to avoid conflict of interest charges because his office's chief investigator, Gary Peterson, moonlights as the chief of security for Lagoon.
Wilson also said he is sensitive to charges that Farmington could be subject to pressure by one of its largest taxpayers and has considered whether another police agency should be called in for investigations.
The Davis County sheriff's office would not be appropriate because of the number of deputies and paramedics that also moonlight at Lagoon as security guards, Wilson said.
Eliminating the county attorney and sheriff's office, along with the Farmington police, as investigating agencies would mean having to call on police investigators from another city, Wilson said.
"We don't have that problem," Jacobson said of the Farmington department. "I work for the city of Farmington. I don't work for Lagoon. When I went in there, all I was concerned with was finding out why someone died."