American girl dies in Costa Rican ATV accident
July 24th, 2009 by Kurt Niland
A family adventure in Costa Rica turned into a horrible nightmare earlier this month when Brooke Scalise, the 12-year-old daughter of Jennifer Scalise, lost control of her ATV and drove off the edge of a 260-foot cliff. The girl was on an ATV tour of Costa Rica’s scenic landscape with her family and friends when the accident occurred.
The tragedy has sparked outrage from Central America to St. Charles, Missouri, where Brooke lived with her family. At the center of the storm sits the tour company and the guide who led the ATV expedition. According to Jennifer Scalise, the tour guide took the group up the side of a steep incline known as Flamingo Hill. She said that the guide was traveling at a fast speed and the group was having a hard time keeping up with him.
“When she made the turn she lost control or didn’t know it was there. She went straight off the cliff. When I came up to the turn her friend who was riding by her was screaming and off her ATV and I was only a second behind her,” Jennifer told KSDK of St. Louis. She also said there were no signs warning of the cliff or guardrails.
“All I kept screaming was ‘Why? Why did the tour guide take us up here? Why?’ We had been on beaches and it was so different,” Jennifer told KSDK.
Besides the high rate of speed at which the guide was traveling, there were a number of other ATV safety violations on that tour. People under 16 years old are not allowed to ride ATVs in Costa Rica, the group was not supposed to be driving on a public road, and the tour guide was underage.
Coasta Rican authorities continue to investigate the accident and may press criminal charges against the owner of the company.
Jennifer launched a website, http://www.brookescalisefoundation.com/, as a way of keeping her friends, family, and public connected to her daughter’s story and spirit.
“Brooke was an amazing child that was a light in so many people’s lives. Brooke lived life to its fullest,” Jennifer told KSDK.