17-Year-Old 'America's Got Talent' Cheerleader Tragically Dies

America’s Got Talent quarterfinalist and member of the Los Osos High School dance squad Emily Gold has died.

The 17-year-old student, who was part of the dance team that bowled over America on the AGT quarterfinals, was found under a bridge on the eastbound 210 Highway in Rancho Cucamonga, per The Daily Mail.

Los Osos High School principal Eric Cypher wrote in a message to the school’s parents and students: “I’m sorry to share tragic news with you regarding a fellow Grizzly. Emily was on both our Varsity Dance Team and Varsity Cheer squad. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as they grieve.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up in the amount of $50,000 for her family.

The posting says: “With great sadness we share our Los Osos Grizzly Emily Gold has passed away. As a community, let’s come together and support the Gold family in this difficult time. Please know this money will go directly to the family to support them and help with expenses.”

The Los Osos High School dance squad first impressed the America’s Got Talent judges at their audition, getting yeses from Simon Cowell, Heidi Klum and Sofia Vergara. The holdout was Howie Mandel, who was no, but it was enough to get the team through to the quarterfinals.

At the quarterfinals, they smashed it with amazing moves to "Whoomp There It Is," "Pump It" and "Fergalicious."

“I’m here for it,” Heidi told the squad after their quarterfinal appearance. But most of what she said was buried in the cheering from the audience. “I give you two thumbs up because you can’t hear a thing.”

Which is why Sofia said, “I don’t think I need to say anything. I’ve never seen this theater go so crazy.”

And Simon said, “We talked earlier on about the show, Terry, and people stepping it up from the audition. This was a gigantic step up. Seriously. I don’t know anything about dance. However, that to me was an event.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to get the group into the semifinals and their AGT journey ended there.

Backstage after the AGT performance, Gold told People, "When I'm performing, I'm really thinking about all the corrections because we get corrections up until five minutes before we go on stage. So, to really just think about all those so that we apply them is my biggest priority on stage."

And as for juggling her dance team requirements with school and performing on AGT, she said, “It's definitely tough to balance it all, but we make it happen."

America's Got Talent will feature the finale performances for Season 19 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on NBC.

If you feel like your friend or loved one needs help please call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 for immediate help and to speak with someone who knows exactly what’s going on. They are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Plus, they have online chats available and all information is confidential. You can also text “HELLO” to 741741 to be connected with the Crisis Text Line.