Deadly coast

Imagine being on a beautiful vacation in Hawaii and come to find there was a tragic accident in this beautiful oasis. For the Madoff family that is exactly what happened. Tyler Madoff, a 15-year-old boy was swept out to sea during a Hawaii hiking and kayaking tour. A wrongful death lawsuit was filed and has finally been settled. Terms of the settlement reached with Bold Earth Teen Adventures and Hawaii Pack and Paddle were sealed.

The lawsuit was filed in Honolulu by Tyler’s family, claiming that the tour guides were negligent for leading teenagers to a dangerous area. The alleged area where Tyler was washed away was off a route where the teenagers were hiking. They were hiking near the Captain Cook monument at Kealakekua Bay, where they had kayaked, when the tour stopped to rest at a tide pool and large waves washed Madoff away. The boy’s body wasn’t recovered according to the lawsuit this location was outside of a state-permitted area and had dangerous surf warnings.

In court the lawyers for the Madoff family stated the argument that the Bold Earth Teen Adventures failed to do accurate background checks. The lawyers found that three of the trip’s leaders had marijuana-related convictions. Michael Madoff, the father, said he hopes tours will be run more carefully in the future. “We’re just hoping that other families don’t have to go through this. That was really the main thrust of this lawsuit. We don’t really care about the money,” said Madoff, of White Plains, N.Y.