CEO mum killed on dream holiday in tourist truck crash with son critically injured
A top CEO and mum-of-three has been killed after a tourist truck overturned in Nicaragua.
Kasey Grelle, 41, died on a family vacation with her husband, musician Dave Grelle, and their three children, with one of her sons left critically injured in the crash.
The mum was the founder and CEO of Aux Insights, a marketing consultancy that specialises in helping private equity firms grow and scale businesses.
The family were on board a tourist transport truck thought to be carrying 28 foreign passengers when the open-air vehicle lost control and tumbled down a hill at the Rancho Santana resort in Tola.
Grelle died of her injuries while being transported to hospital.
Her 11-year-old son, Julian, has been airlifted to a children’s hospital in St. Louis, Missouri after suffering head trauma, skull fractures and a collapsed lung.
More than 20 people, including children, were injured in the crash, according to Nicaraguan outlet TN8.
Grelle’s brother Andy Joyce said their family was ‘devastated’ in a post on Facebook.
‘Kasey was one of the most brilliant, driven and selfless people I have ever met,’ he wrote.
‘She was relentless in everything she did, especially when it came to helping her people.’
Her husband Dave also shared a series of ributes following her death, writing: ‘This can’t be real. I miss her so much.
‘I thought we’d grow old together, always in love. We fought so hard for each other. We laughed so hard together.’
He added: ‘She was a superhero to our kids… There’s a hole in my universe.’
A GoFundMe page, launched to support the children, has raised more than $310,000 (£234,000) as of Sunday, past the initial $250,000 goal.
The family face serious financial challenges due to the cost of Julian’s medical care, funeral expenses and loss of the primary source of income.
Grelle became the family’s breadwinner in 2016, when husband was struck by a car as a pedestrian and nearly died.
The mum gave birth shortly after and supported the family as Dave dealt with chronic pain.
At the same time, Grelle became CEO of the digital media company Quillt when it was $40 million in debt.
By 2020 she had turned the company’s fortunes around. It had paid off the debt and was making millions in revenue, according to a 2021 interview with Biz Journals.
The mum originally started out as a TV news reporter before switching to finance after finishing an MBA at Washington University in St Louis.
Nicaragua’s National Police are still investigating the circumstances of the crash.
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