Haunting videos show cheerleader Emily Gold dancing her heart out on America’s Got Talent just months before she tragically died.
The 17 year old was filmed break dancing along with the rest of the Los Osos High School Dance Team in a high-energy performance on the competition show in late May – blowing the judges away.
Simon Cowell even called the team’s performance ‘absolutely brilliant.’
‘I think what I just saw is everything a grade school should be doing, which is encouraging talent, friendship, and it reminded me of when I used to watch those High School Musical movies, thinking, “Everybody should go to a school like that” because it’s fun,”‘ he told the performers.
The team would go on to perform another impressive routine to Fergalicious at the quarterfinals last month, but on Friday, Gold was found dead under a bridge in an apparent suicide on the eastbound 210 Highway in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Emily Gold, 17, tragically died on Friday – just one month after her dance team was eliminated from America’s Got Talent
The Los Osos High School dance team performed a high-energy audition on the show in late May
In one of her final Instagram posts, Gold wrote that performing on America’s Got Talent was ‘the most incredible experience.
‘So beyond thankful for the love and support!!’ she wrote, before thanking the high school dance team ‘for being the best family I could ever ask for.’
Gold was also a member of the Varsity cheer squad, school officials said on Saturday as they announced the senior’s death.
‘Please keep Emily and her loved ones and friends in your thoughts and prayers,’ Los Osos High School Principal Eric Cypher said in a written statement.
Officials with the California Highway Patrol said they received several calls on Friday after passersby found Gold on the road just east of Haven Avenue.
A number of vehicles had struck her body by the time officers arrived, and at least one had failed to stop, a CHP spokesman said.
The performance blew the judges away, with Simon Cowell calling it ‘absolutely brilliant’
An online fundraiser has since raised more than half of its $50,000 goal for her family as devastated friends of the dancer paid tribute.
‘We are sending tons of love, thoughts and prayers for your family,’ Rhonda Donlin wrote on the GoFundMe.
‘We remember all those long gymnastic days spent together, those Vegas trips.
‘She will be missed dearly,’ Donlin continued.
‘May she rest in peace and may you all find some comfort in the arms of each other. We love you and are here for you.’
Others took to social media to express their condolences.
‘Let it be known that she now rests easy although there were many that loved Emily Gold and even looked up to her,’ Samantha Shaw wrote on Facebook.
Gold was a senior at the high school, which announced her death on Saturday
She was a member of both the school’s Varsity Dance Team and its Varsity cheer squad
‘She will be remembered none the less by her fellow Grizzlies and by those who loved her with all their heart and soul.
‘Emily Gold, thank you for all that you have done in this world. You have done more than enough. Claws up to you Emily. Claws up.’
Fellow troupe member Mia Bustamante also 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.
The San Bernardino Coroner’s Office is now treating Gold’s death as a suicide.