A devastating story from the America's Got Talent universe: A contestant who reached the quarterfinals of the television reality competition just last month died Friday at age 17 of an apparent suicide. The California Highway Patrol says officers from its Rancho Cucamonga area responded near midnight to reports of a pedestrian down in the carpool lane on the 210 freeway and found Emily Gold, who was pronounced dead at the scene, People reports. Official details are scant, but sources tell TMZ the teenager is believed to have jumped from an overpass onto the highway, where she was struck by at least one vehicle. Gold was a senior at Los Osos High School in San Bernardino County, and was on the school's dance team, which competed on season 19 of AGT, Deadline reports.
The team was just eliminated from the show in August, and earned a standing ovation from judge Simon Cowell, who called their final performance "absolutely brilliant." Gold spoke to People about competing on the show little more than a month ago, saying it was "tough to balance" school with the reality competition, "but we make it happen." A GoFundMe set up for her family has raised more than $30,000. "Emily was on both our Varsity Dance Team and Varsity Cheer squad, our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they grieve," says the principal of her school. (More America's Got Talent stories.)
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