ORLANDO, Fla. – About 90 minutes after a theme park visitor was found unresponsive on a Universal Orlando roller coaster last summer, a manager with Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services sent a text message to one of the state’s amusement ride inspectors, records obtained by News 6 reveal.
“FYI, death called in on stardust racer,” Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection Chief Michelle Faulk wrote in a Sept. 17 text message. “Appears to be a cardiac episode. Could be one hell of a day tomorrow!”
The text message was sent hours before the medical examiner determined the roller coaster rider’s death was not natural but rather caused by blunt impact injuries to his head, neck, legs and torso.
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Mark Gonzalez, a 22-year veteran amusement ride inspector who helped investigate Tyre Sampson’s death on the Orlando Free Fall drop tower attraction in 2022, soon responded to his supervisor’s text using his personal phone number.
“I volunteer to go out there if needed,” he wrote.
Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, died after repeatedly striking his head on a metal bar while riding the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Epic Universe, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office later concluded.
Rodriguez Zavala, who was paralyzed from spinal atrophy since birth and used a wheelchair, may have partially lifted out of the roller coaster’s lap restraint due to a broken femur, according to a report released three months after his death.
The sheriff’s office concluded Rodriguez Zavala’s died accidentally and that Universal Orlando employees were not careless or neglectful.
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“Larger gentleman was said to have gone limp early on in the ride cycle,” Faulk wrote in a text message to Gonzalez. “G-forces are intense on that ride.”
Faulk initially questioned whether their agency, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or FDACS, would be involved in the investigation at the Universal Orlando theme park.
FDACS is responsible for inspecting amusement rides and conducting accident investigations at small parks and fairs.
Under Florida law, permanent amusement facilities like Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World that employ more than 1,000 people and maintain full-time, in-house safety inspectors are exempt from FDACS oversight and inspections.
Instead, the larger theme park operators have agreed to report ride-related deaths and certain serious injuries to FDACS.
“I’m not sure if the capital will want someone out there,” Faulk texted Gonzalez, apparently referring to the agency headquarters in Tallahassee. “Not something we normally do, but this is the first for this commissioner, so no idea what his intentions will be.”
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A spokesperson for Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told News 6 that Universal Orlando immediately – and voluntarily – invited FDACS to observe testing and inspections of the roller coaster.
“Had they not, we would have asked, and we are confident they would have allowed the department to observe,” said FDACS Communications Director Aaron Keller. “The department, under Commissioner Wilton Simpson, will always make that request.”
Just before 8:30 a.m. on the morning after Rodriguez Zavala’s death, Gonzalez began texting with a Universal Orlando supervisor about where he should enter Epic Universe property to begin observations.
“Call me when you get here and I’ll meet you,” the Universal Orlando supervisor texted back.
Gonzalez spent more than 15 hours over four days at the theme park, state records show. He was joined by two fellow state ride inspectors on some of those days.
As News 6 first reported last year, the FDACS employees did not write any reports or take any photos documenting their observations at Epic Universe.
The agency typically generates reports when inspecting or investigating rides at smaller amusement facilities.
Text messages obtained by News 6 through a public record request also do not detail exactly what the state amusement ride inspectors witnessed while working at the Universal Orlando theme park.
On Sept. 19, two days after Rodriguez Zavala’s death, Faulk sent a text message to Gonzalez asking for any updates about the roller coaster testing.
“Their data review was all within parameters,” responded Gonzalez. “They are going to keep it down pending mfg (manufacturer) input.”
Three days later, Universal Orlando’s president Karen Irwin sent a letter to employees stating that a preliminary assessment confirmed the Stardust Racers roller coaster “functioned as intended.”
FDACS issued a statement later that evening.
“The department’s current findings align with those shared by Universal after monitoring the same tests and reviewing the same information,” an FDACS spokesperson said Sept. 22.
The following afternoon, Gonzalez received a text message from a Universal Orlando supervisor.
“Hey Mark, if you’d like to meet us over at Stardust tomorrow at 10 AM, that’s when we will get started with our third-party,” the Universal Orlando supervisor wrote.
An FDACS representative previously said Universal Orlando had been “extremely” cooperative with the state agency.
Famed civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who was retained by Rodriguez Zavala’s family, held a Sept. 23 news conference during which he erroneously claimed Rodriguez Zavala and his girlfriend had been seated in the very front row of the roller coaster train.
“He was right up in the front seats,” Crump said as he pointed to a large photo of the Stardust Racers roller coaster.
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Faulk, the FDACS Bureau of Fair Rides Inspection chief, texted Gonzalez a screengrab of Crump.
“Listening to the press conference,” Faulk wrote. “Was he in the front seat?”
“Front seat of the 5th carrier,” replied Gonzalez, referring to the roller coaster’s rear car. “He is wrong. He is obviously talking without having seen the video or spoken with the girlfriend.”
Crump did not respond to an email from News 6 offering an opportunity to comment. He previously said Rodriguez Zavala’s family and Universal Orlando had reached a confidential and “amicable” resolution.
By the afternoon of Sept. 24, FDACS employees determined it was no longer necessary for the agency to observe testing at Universal Orlando, text messages indicate.
“I will not be attending the operation runs this evening,” Gonzalez texted a Universal Orlando supervisor.
Universal Orlando re-opened Stardust Racers on Oct. 4 after completing a “comprehensive technical review” that the company said was validated by the ride’s manufacturer and a third-party roller coaster engineering expert.
“Our extensive review was conducted working closely with local officials, and the State of Florida observed the testing and reviewed the results,” Universal Orlando’s president wrote in a follow-up letter to employees prior to the roller coaster resuming operation.
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