An 18-year-old beauty pageant queen, Kadance Fredericksen, has died after her car crashed with a tractor-trailer in Florida, United States.
Fredericksen was a former winner of the Miss Okaloosa County Teen USA title.
She overcame childhood struggles including homelessness and an abusive mother to become a beauty pageant queen.
Fox News reports that Fredericksen was driving when she collided head-on with a tractor-trailer, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and the tractor-trailer driver, who suffered minor injuries, was not arrested.
According to the report, Fredericksen had recently received a $40,000 college scholarship, she announced in her final Instagram post on February 7.
“I am incredibly grateful to be selected as a recipient of this year’s Ellison McCraney Ingram Foundation $40,000 Scholarship,” she wrote.
Fredericksen struggled with homelessness, hunger and abuse as a child before her father and stepmother, who later adopted her, gained custody.
She said she had been abused and neglected by her biological mother and stepfather, including being groomed by her stepfather.
The deceased also founded Kada’s Promise, a charity initiative that collected 12,000 teddy bears and blankets, which were then distributed to children suffering from abuse or trauma.
