Emily Gold, Los Osos High School dancer and America’s Got Talent cheerleader jumps to her suicide death from Rancho Cucamonga overpass in California amid mental health woes.
A member of a California high school dance troupe that won critical acclaim while appearing on a recent America’s Got Talent episode has killed herself, after jumping to her death from a California overpass last week.
Emily Gold, 17, of Los Osos High School was found dead under a bridge in an apparent suicide on the eastbound 210 Highway in Rancho Cucamonga just before midnight on Friday.
The teen girl had been part of the Los Osos High School dance group that reached the quarter finals of this year’s AGT with their high-energy routine.
On September 13th, 2024, at about 11:50 PM, CHP Rancho Cucamonga received reports of a body down in lanes on the Eastbound 210 Freeway, just East of Haven Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga. CHP and Rancho Cucamonga Fire arrived at the scene and located a female lying face down in the HOV lane.
That person was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Noted the Super Slice: ‘Gold intentionally jumped over the freeway, landing in the carpool lane of the 210 East. Several vehicles struck her body, and none of the drivers stopped on the highway until an emergency alert around 11:57 pm.
A driver dragged her body to the side of the road and waited for the police and the medical team to arrive while all the traffic lanes were closed until midnight. Soon after her first impact, Gold passed away, as her body couldn’t handle the vehicle’s force.’
Before her passing, Gold was part of the Varsity Dance Team and Cheer Squad, which shared their message for their valued members. One of her friends’ mothers called Gold a talented gymnast.
News of the emerging talent’s death led to tributes on social media, with Janet Womack writing, ‘From the moment I saw her on the stage, I knew she had found her calling!’
‘Time stopped when you watched her dance. She was in her element. It was like she’d been doing it her whole life.’
‘Let it be known that she now rests easy although there were many that loved Emily Gold and even looked up to her,’ wrote Samantha Shaw.
AGT judge Simon Cowell gave a standing ovation after the group’s appearance at the auditions in May this year.
‘It was absolutely brilliant,’ he told the panel. ‘What I loved about this was first of all the energy, I think what I just saw is everything a great school should be doing which is encouraging talent and friendship.
‘It reminded me of seeing the High School Musical movie and thinking ‘every kid should go to a school like that’.
Several callers alerted California Highway Patrol after seeing Emily on the road just east of Haven Avenue, and a number of vehicles had struck her body by the time officers arrived.
All lanes of the busy highway were briefly closed to traffic, but two were back open within 15 minutes.
Los Osos high school offers counseling to fellow students
Emily Gold lived in Sylmar with her parents and younger brother, which is 19 miles away from the location of her demise. Prior to her suicide death, Gold had left her house earlier that evening before her parents received the tragic news.
The school broke the news of the senior’s death with a message to students on Saturday.
‘Emily was on both our Varsity Dance Team and Varsity cheer squad, our thoughts and prayer are with the family as they grieve.’
‘Please keep Emily and her loved ones and friends in your thoughts and prayers,’ added Los Osos High School Principal Eric Cypher in a written statement.
‘I’m also available if you need to reach out to me.’
Mental health woes
Fellow troupe member Mia Bustamante said Emily would be ‘missed beyond words’.
‘You brought me the most beautiful form of love I could ask for. My best friend, my forever dance sister,’ she wrote on Instagram.
Amidst the tragedy, the Los Osos High School has taken appropriate measures to tackle the situation with other students by providing counselors, peer counselors, and district therapists in their Wellness Center.
A GoFundMe set up for the Gold family as of Monday afternoon had raised $22, 336 of its $50K goal.
To date no known motive or reason was offered as to what led to the up and coming 17 year old teen to kill herself and whether she was undergoing mental health strife.
