September 18th, 1990. Geraldo Rivera on his namesake talk show brings us the family of a girl who died from dehydration during her youth camp excursion.
“…more than 75% of the kids and adults surveyed, felt the programs did not live up to their expectations.”
The segment begins talking to Bob Sutton about his daughter Michelle Sutton, who died officially from dehydration during a Summit Quest activity. We hear the details of the case, and another similar case at Steve Cartisano’s Challenger Foundation. Scenes from the camps are shown and details of the regimen are discussed.
Mr. and Mrs. Sutton are then in studio to talk about why their daughter Michelle was sent to the camp in the first place. Finally we hear from Gayle Palmer, Director of the Summit Quest Wilderness Program as well as Detective Dale Lent who is investigating Michelle Sutton’s death.
Steve Cartisano was charged and later acquitted of child abuse crimes.
Summit Quest settled several lawsuits out of court and remains in operation today.
This day, Geraldo’s television history.