'Verruckt' ride to be demolished after death of Caleb Thomas Schwab, 10, at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kansas

But by mid-afternoon the joy came to a horrible end when the 10-year-old son of a Kansas state representative from Olathe died on the Verrückt, at 17 stories the tallest water slide in the world.

According to a police statement, an off-duty officer working at the water park notified dispatch of the accident around 2:30 p.m. Kansas City, Kansas Fire and Police departments arrived on the scene to find the boy dead in a pool at the end of the ride.

Scott Schwab says in a statement supplied by his lawyer to the Kansas City Star that "words will never convey the appreciation" his family has for the outpouring since Caleb Schwab died Aug. 7 while riding the 168-foot tall "Verruckt" ride at the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.

With enough investigation — analyzing records, studying designs, perhaps running wired crash dummies down the ride — experts promise they can learn why a 10-year-old boy died on a water slide.

Whether such an analysis of Caleb Schwab’s death on Schlitterbahn’s towering Verruckt is ever revealed publicly remains far less certain.

States' regulations of waterslides and other amusement rides have faced scrutiny following Caleb's death. Kansas is known for its light regulation of amusement park rides, and the Texas-based company that operates Schlitterbahn lobbied legislators to help ensure that it remained responsible for its own inspections.

The family of a Kansas lawmaker’s 10-year-old son killed last summer on what was billed as the world’s tallest water slide reached a settlement Wednesday with the park’s owner and the raft’s manufacturer.

Attorney Lynn Johnson on Wednesday confirmed the out-of-court deal between his clients and the Schlitterbahn park over the tragedy involving the 17-story "Verruckt," which had been billed as the world's tallest waterslide.