Washington Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed After Girl’s Death

Parents John Tam and Tamami Okauchi have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Washington State against the United States Forest Service following their daughter's death at the Big Four Ice Caves last summer.

 

In July, 11-year-old Grace Tam traveled with her family to Verlot, Washington, to visit the famed ice caves in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. During their visit, a large block of ice fell from the caves and crushed the young girl, a student at Kellogg Marsh Elementary School in Marysville. Her parents say that the Forest Service was negligent because they did not properly warn visitors about the dangers of falling ice and snow around the area of the caves.

 

Tam was the second visitor to the ice caves to die in an accident in recent years. In 1998, 27-year-old Catherine Stockton Shields was crushed and buried in an avalanche while visiting the caves with her family.

 

This Washington child accident lawsuit, which was filed in Seattle in December, brings up a number of difficult legal questions: what responsibility does the U.S. Forest Service have to protect visitors from natural dangers? Were enough signs posted to alert hikers about the dangers of the caves?

 

If your child has been injured or killed in a Washington State accident and you believe that negligence was a factor in the incident, you may wish to speak with a Washington child injury attorney. At the Andrew Kim Law Firm, we represent child injury cases free of charge. Call today at 800.636.3676.