A 19-year-old Colorado volunteer at a Christian summer camp in Oregon died when she was thrown from a vehicle and crushed in 2024. Now, her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging the camp’s negligence led to her death.
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Young Life, an international Christian youth organization based in Colorado Springs, hosts dozens of camps across 18 states and six foreign countries. The fatal crash happened at the organization’s Washington Family Ranch, a 64,280-acre compound along the John Day River in northern Oregon and one of Young Life’s largest camps.
Adelaide Rowell, 19, started volunteering at the Ranch in July 2024. She primarily worked at a tower of the camp’s ropes course only accessible via steep, switchback roads made of rock and dirt, according to the lawsuit filed in Oregon on July 1.
Rowell was studying biology at the University of Colorado Boulder and on track to graduate in 2027.
On Aug. 6, 2024, Rowell was a passenger in a Kawasaki Mule utility task vehicle (UTV) delivering water to a zip line tower when the driver lost control and drove off the road, according to the lawsuit. Rowell was thrown from the UTV and crushed beneath it, according to a report from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
A group of teenage campers lifted the UTV off Rowell and held it in place as one camper began performing CPR, according to the lawsuit. After 10 minutes, paramedics and medical doctors arrived at the scene. They tried for another 30 minutes but were unable to revive Rowell, the lawsuit stated.
OSHA fined the camp more than $57,000 for after the incident, according to the agency’s inspection report.
Neither volunteer in the UTV was wearing a seatbelt or a helmet when it crashed, which is required by the vehicle’s safety manual, according to the lawsuit. Young Life had a copy of the manual, the lawsuit stated.
“Not wearing a seat belt, or wearing one improperly, can result in serious injury or death in the event of an accident,” the lawsuit stated, citing the manual. “Make certain the operator and all passengers always wear their seat belts. … The door and hand grips are not a substitute for seat belts.”
But volunteers didn’t have access to that manual, and they were never instructed to use that safety equipment in their training, the lawsuit alleges. Helmets were not provided to staff, according to the lawsuit.
The volunteer who was driving “had not even completed (the camp’s) inadequate training to operate a UTV,” the lawsuit stated.
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The training provided by Young Life included modules covering the safe operation of motor vehicles on public roads, day-of training at the Ranch and a “Motorized Cart Type Vehicle Operator’s Agreement,” which covers golf carts but not all-terrain vehicles, according to the lawsuit.
The two volunteers had operated the UTV “countless times” without wearing helmets or seat belts, which camp officials were aware of, the lawsuit alleges.
The faith-based organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Rowell’s family is asking for up to $20 million in economic damages, which covers monetary losses, and $40 million in noneconomic damages, which compensate for pain, suffering and emotional distress. The family also plans to amend the complaint to include punitive damages, according to the document. Those are awarded to punish intentional or reckless behavior.
Young Life “showed a reckless and outrageous indifference to a highly unreasonable risk of harm and acted with a conscious indifference to the health, safety, and welfare of others,” the lawsuit stated.
Rowell’s death is not the first time Young Life has faced allegations of putting volunteers and campers at risk. In 2016, the family of 16-year-old Oliva Grimes sued the camp after she fell from a swing at a high ropes course in South Carolina.
Grimes was supposed to be attached to a large pendulum swing along with two other people, but she became unhooked and fell more than 100 feet to the ground, authorities said.
That lawsuit was settled outside of court in 2017, according to South Carolina court records.
The organization has also been accused by former members of discriminating against the LGBTQ+ community, with hundreds taking to social media to share their stories in 2020, and of mishandling sexual misconduct complaints when several volunteers came forward in 2021.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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