UPDATE: In a statement, Gabriella Cedillo's family called it "completely irresponsible for even a local government bureaucrat to rush to such sloppy conclusions." They were "deeply saddened and disappointed" by the decision, they said.
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More than meets the eye? Not when it comes to last month's near-fatal mishap on the Transformers 3 set.
Investigators are saying it was simply a tragic accident that left an extra with severe brain damage.
Gabriella Cedillo, 24, was behind the wheel of a car when its tow cable snapped off, smashed through the windshield and sliced through her skull. The bankteller, who was not part of the stunt team, was airlifted to a trauma center, underwent emergency surgery and is now paralyzed on the left side of her body.
Production was temporarily suspended as investigators collected evidence on the scene in the city of Hammond.
In today's report, the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration blamed a technical malfunction and found that producers followed all proper procedures.
"IOSHA investigators believe the accident occurred due to the failure of a weld connecting a car to a tow cable," the agency said in a statement. "The weld was made by a certified welder and all necessary safety precautions were in place, thus no citations or fines will be issued. This was an unfortunate and unforeseeable accident."
That's small consolation for Cedillo, who's now in a rehabilitation center. She may never regain the full use of her body and has years of intense physical therapy ahead of her.
While the sequel's distributor, Paramount, has said it will cover all her medical bills and has profusely apologized, her family sued the studio and partner DreamWorks last week for negligence, seeking unspecified damages in excess of $50,000.