EDC Vegas Sees Two Attendees Die, Including a UCI Graduate

One of the reasons Electric Daisy Carnival moved to Las Vegas last year was the scrutiny (and subsequent scandal) sparked following the ecstasy overdose death of a 15-year-old attendee in 2010. Turns out she had sneaked into the party.

Since then, organizers have had to come to terms with with the behavior of ravers, including off-site deaths of EDC party-goers in Dallas.

This year's three-day EDC in Vegas (June 8-10) was massive — about 100,000 people attended each day — and successful. But once again a few party goers in town for the event died off-campus after apparently imbibing:

Over the weekend officials confirmed that a 31-year-old party-goer from Florida died Saturday after spending the week in a hospital. He had been struck by a truck as he left EDC at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway the morning of June 11. According to reports, friends said he had been drinking.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal ID'd him as Olivier Hennessy of Ponce Inlet, Florida. Olivier graduated from UC Irvine in 2003 with a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering.

The paper reported that he was hit about 4:30 a.m. Monday (June 11) in front of the speedway's gate 6.

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Another death was reported over the weekend by the Review-Journal:

Emily McCaughan, a 22-year-old student at the University of Arizona, fell more than 20 stories from her hotel room window the morning of June 11, the paper reported. The hotel was an official accommodations partner for the festival and offered discounts to EDC party-goers.

Family members said she had taken ecstasy and was suffering paranoid delusions before her death, though the drug is not known for its delusional, LSD-like qualities.

When we asked if any major problems related to EDC had cropped up over the three days, Las Vegas Metro Police spokesman Bill Castle told us Tuesday it was all good (save for the arrests and medical emergency stats he had reported to us).

“Overall the event was a success,” he told us. “No extraordinary police action was required.”

Reached Sunday night, representatives of EDC's L.A.-based promoter, Insomniac Events, sent the Weekly this statement:

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We are deeply saddened by the two tragedies that occurred last week in Las Vegas outside of Electric Daisy Carnival. Our sincere condolences go out the family and friends of the two individuals.


Electric Daisy Carnival, in many respects, is one of the safest places to be in Las Vegas during the event weekend's operating hours. With law enforcement, private security teams, and fully staffed medical facilities housing doctors, nurses and emergency medical personnel, the venue functions like a small city.

It is a known fact that individuals who choose to partake in illicit drug behavior may suffer unexpected tragic consequences. All Insomniac festivals have a zero-tolerance policy against such behavior as well as a strictly enforced 18+ age restriction.

In the case of the gentleman hit by a vehicle on Las Vegas Blvd, he was in the care of two trauma doctors within minutes of the accident – a response time otherwise unheard of had he not been within close proximity of our venue and medical facilities.

The two tragedies occurred beyond the festival's walls as well as beyond Insomniac's control and these incidents will not threaten the future of EDC in Las Vegas. We hope that our fans carefully consider the decisions they make and how those decisions impact their own safety and the wellbeing of those around them.

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