A high-powered American CEO was killed in a horrific vacationer transport crash in Nicaragua whereas vacationing together with her husband and their three younger youngsters — one in all whom suffered crucial accidents.
Kasey Grelle, 41, who co-founded the St. Louis-based advertising and marketing consulting agency Aux Insights, was killed March 23 when an open-air vacationer transport truck carrying her household and different passengers crashed contained in the Rancho Santana resort in Tola, Nicaragua, heartbroken kin mentioned.
Her 11-year-old son Julian was critically injured and airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, in keeping with a household fundraiser that was posted on GoFundMe.
He suffered head trauma, cranium fractures and backbone fractures in addition to a collapsed lung, in keeping with the GoFundMe web page.
Grelle is survived by her husband, Dave, and their three younger youngsters — Julian, 11; Package, 9; and Des, 6.
“We’re devastated to announce the tragic passing of my sister, Kasey Grelle,” Grelle’s brother, Andy Joyce, wrote on Fb in an April 1 publish.
“Kasey was on a household trip in Nicaragua and on a tour placed on by the resort she was staying at together with her youngsters, Package and Julian, when the driving force misplaced management and rolled the automobile, killing Kasey and severely injuring Julian.”
Joyce remembered his sister as “one of the crucial sensible, pushed and selfless folks I’ve ever met and he or she was relentless in all the things she did, particularly when it got here to serving to her folks.”
“We’re heartbroken for David Grelle, Julian, Package and Des in addition to everybody else who knew and beloved Kasey.”
A GoFundMe crowdfunding effort launched to learn the youngsters has raised greater than $302,000 as of Saturday — nicely previous the preliminary $250,000 purpose.
Greater than 20 folks, together with youngsters, have been injured when the vacationer transport truck, carrying roughly 28 international passengers, misplaced management whereas descending a hill contained in the resort complicated, in keeping with Nicaraguan outlet TN8.
The open-air automobile flipped after rolling again, native reviews mentioned.
The victims have been handled on the scene by resort workers and emergency responders earlier than being rushed to the Hospital Gaspar García Laviana in Rivas, the report mentioned.
Grelle died whereas being transported to the hospital after struggling catastrophic accidents, together with extreme head trauma, TN8 reported. She reportedly suffered a cranium fracture.
Nicaragua’s Nationwide Police are nonetheless investigating the circumstances of the crash, in keeping with TN8.
Grelle had been the household’s main supplier after her husband was critically injured in a earlier accident, in keeping with the GoFundMe fundraiser.
She co-founded Aux Insights, a St. Louis-based strategic advertising and marketing consulting agency that works with non-public fairness companies to drive income development and enhance firm efficiency.
The agency positions itself as an outsourced chief advertising and marketing workplace for traders, serving to portfolio firms translate advertising and marketing efforts into measurable monetary outcomes, together with income and EBITDA development.
In a 2025 podcast interview, Grelle mentioned the agency had surpassed $10 million in annual income in below two years and was worthwhile from the outset with out exterior funding.
Earlier than launching Aux Insights, Grelle labored in enterprise capital and company dealmaking, together with a stint as CEO of Gateway Media, the place she helped restructure the enterprise and pay down $40 million in debt earlier than its sale.
She started her profession as a TV information reporter earlier than pivoting into finance and entrepreneurship after incomes an MBA from Washington College in St. Louis.
