Tyler Madoff, from his Scarsdale High Yearbook
Tyler Madoff’s parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the Federal Court in Honolulu. Madoff is the 15-year-old boy who was swept off the shore at Kealakekua Bay near the lighthouse, just makai of the Captain Cook Monument, on July 4, 2012. Madoff, 15, was part of a teen excursion touring the state with a company called Bold Earth Teen Adventures. Locally, Hawaii Pack and Paddle was working with the group.
The lawsuit filed by Michael and Marianne Madoff alleges that the tour guides made an “outrageously reckless and irresponsible” decision to deviate to a treacherous lava rock area that’s out of a permitted area.
It also claims the group leader has a criminal history including disorderly conduct and marijuana possession despite tour company claims that leaders undergo background checks.
Both Bold Earth Teen Adventures and Hawaii Pack and Paddle are named as defendants. The Madoffs’ hometown newspaper, The Journal News, says the lawsuit also names two individuals with Bold Earth Teen Adventures and two with Hawaii Pack and Paddle, reportedly including Nolan “Ola” Reed, an HPP guide. Reed kept some of the other teens from being swept away and jumped into the surf to rescue 15-year-old Matthew Aizate of Florida, who was badly injured but survived.
The Madoffs will hold a news conference Wednesday in New York at their attorney’s office.
Tyler Madoff’s body was never found.
Michael and Marianne Madoff, courtesy Big Island Video News and Matt Binder, Visionary Video
