There are certain documents in history that serve as stark, clinical punctuation marks at the end of an era of innocence. The autopsy report of Deborah Gail Stone is one of them. While it is, by definition, a medical examination of a deceased individual, reading it offers a grim fascination that goes far beyond biology. It is the paper trail of the day the "Happiest Place on Earth" lost its immunity to tragedy.
: Contemporary accounts and coroner-related summaries describe her being "crushed and dismembered" due to the immense force of the rotating stage mechanism. Investigative Conclusions deborah gail stone autopsy report top
鈥攁 stationary interior wall and the rotating outer theater wall. Crushing Injuries There are certain documents in history that serve
attraction, Stone was crushed between a rotating theater wall and a stationary stage wall during a scene transition. It is the paper trail of the day
: Pressure-sensitive mats and "electric eyes" (break-beam sensors) were installed to automatically stop the rotation if anyone approached the walls.
Stone, an 18-year-old hostess, was positioned in a narrow gap (only a few inches wide) between a stationary stage wall and a rotating theater wall. Fatal Error:
