America’s Got Talent Alum Emily Gold Dead at 17
Content warning: This story discusses suicide.
The dance community is mourning one of its own.
America's Got Talent alum Emily Gold—who competed alongside her Los Osos High School varsity dance team on season 19 of the show earlier this year—has died by suicide, the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department confirmed to E! News. She was 17.
The dancer was found dead on Sept. 13 at around 11:52 p.m., when officers responded to a call of a pedestrian down in the lanes of a highway in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., according to a Sept. 14 press release from the California Highway Patrol.
At the time, authorities discovered an unidentified female who had been "struck by at least one vehicle" before succumbing to her injuries and being pronounced dead at the scene, per the release.
And while the female has since been identified as Gold by the coroner's office, the California Highway Patrol noted that circumstances surrounding her death are still being investigated.
News of Gold's passing comes one month after the teen and her Los Osos dance team were eliminated from season 19 of America's Got Talent in the quarterfinal round.
And while the squad didn't go home with a win, their final performance earned a standing ovation from the audience and massive praise from judge Simon Cowell.
"It was absolutely brilliant," Cowell told Gold and her fellow dancers during the Aug. 13 episode of the reality competition series. "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."
For Gold—who admitted juggling school and dancing was a "tough balance"—success could be attributed to her drive to constantly better her craft.
"When I'm performing, I'm really thinking about all the corrections," she told People in an Aug. 13 interview, "because we get corrections up until five minutes before we go on stage."
She added, "So to really just think about all those so that we apply them is my biggest priority on stage."
If you or someone you know needs help, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.