A teenager who used to work at Disneyland suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable while working on a ride that no longer exists at the park.
Now, despite Disneyland being dubbed 'the Happiest place on Earth,' sometimes it can become the home of horrific tragedies.
Deborah Gail Stone, from Santa Ana in California, was working at the resort in Anaheim back in 1974 when she passed away under tragic circumstances.
The employee, who was only 18 years old at the time of the incident, was working at Disneyland Park's America Sings attraction where her role was to greet customers as they got onto the ride.
The attraction had just been re-opened after almost a year following a revamp, with the location previously being home to The Carousel of Progress.
However, just like its predecessor, the attraction featured an outer ring of six seating areas that rotated around a stationary center that housed multiple stages.
Stone was said to be standing to the left of the stage while she welcomed the Disneyland guests over a microphone but just after the ride started, the teenager moved too close to the rotating theater wall and the non-moving stage wall and was crushed to death between them.
Eyewitnesses at the scene recalled hearing loud screaming but at first, they thought it was just part of the attraction before they alerted other staff members of the incident.
At the time, The Los Angeles Times reported that "she died at 11:00 PM during a 45-second interval when the audience had left her theater and it was moving into position to start a new cycle."
It was also reported that Stone was the first-ever employee death at the park while four other visitors had died since it first opened.
Stone's family allegedly filed a lawsuit against the park after the incident and received a "small settlement" in return.
The story was recalled on TikTok by the popular account '@makingastruecrimerer' where it received over 4000 comments.
"Sad way to pass. So many ppl [sic] have passed away inside the park," wrote one user while another added: "Small settlement? If that was my daughter I [would] want to live in Disney land and 100 billion dollars and I'd still be furious."
A third chimed in questioning: "Why would you think screaming is part of that attraction?"
And this user also revealed a horrifying detail from the story, stating: "I watched a video on this a while ago and supposedly a lot of people could literally hear her bones crunching and breaking as well..."
What a terrifying thought.
Thankfully America Sings eventually closed for good on 10 April 1988.
.jpg_jqHCBd?tr=h-40)
.jpg_jqHCBd?tr=h-184)
