The inexplicable crash that killed beauty queen Kadance Fredericksen at 18

The unexpected death of Miss Florida Teen USA beauty queen Kadance Fredericksen shocked the pageant industry, as she was only 18 years old. Authorities remain puzzled about why she drove her car into a tractor-trailer on February 17.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

The Miss Okaloosa County representative at the Miss Florida Teen USA 2024 pageant had a bizarre traffic accident as she collided with a tractor trailer at just three minutes' distance from her home.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

According to People magazine, authorities indicated that, for unknown reasons, the vehicle driven by Kadance crossed the center lane and entered the eastbound lane. There, it collided with a truck.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

The Florida Highway Patrol said the other driver was a 56-year-old man who suffered only minor injuries. The beauty queen, however, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

"We are still in the early stages of the investigation and ask that we all take a moment for this family as well as others who have lost a loved one to a traffic crash," authorities said in their statement to the press.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

The young woman's death was confirmed in February on the Miss Florida USA Instagram account. "It is with profound sadness and a heavy heart that we share the passing of one of our beloved delegates, Kadance Fredericksen, Miss Okaloosa County," the organization stated.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

"Our pageant community has lost a beautiful soul - one who was a true light in this world… She was ambitious, driven, kind, and a leader among her pageant sisters. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, friends, and all who are mourning this devastating loss."

Photo: Missfl USA / Instagram

"…May we honor her memory by carrying forward the light she so effortlessly shared with the world and our Florida pageant community. Forever, our Queen," the organization said on Instagram.

Photo: Missfl USA / Instagram

The young woman's family told American media outlet WKRG that Kadance had just received nine university acceptances and planned to study veterinary medicine.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

"She had the whole world right there in her hands, and she was ready to take it on. She was literally three minutes from home. I have no idea what happened," her mother, Lisa Fredericksen, told People magazine.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

About Kadance, we can say that she was a young girl who suffered abuse at an early age and was adopted by Lisa in 2017.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

Her adoptive mother said Kadance entered the world of beauty pageants after years of therapy.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

In those beauty pageants, Kadance won the Little Miss Northwest Florida pageant in 2017 and made it to the Miss Florida Teen USA pageant last year.

Photo: missflusa / Instagram

The beauty queen was also the founder of Kada's Promise, a program she started in 2017 to provide teddy bears and blankets to children in foster care, shelters for abuse survivors, and homeless children.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

"During many dark times in my early childhood, the only thing that I could call my own or that made me feel safe was a single teddy bear that I received as a gift…"

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

"…I carried him with me from house to house, couch to couch, and clutched him tightly in the scariest times. It is from these memories that Kada’s Promise was born," she wrote on the Kada's Promise website.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

At just 18 years, Kadance Fredericksen brought light and meaning to many people's lives. Her legacy will live on as her family plans to continue her Kada's Promise initiative to bring joy and comfort to children in need.

Photo: Kadance Fred / Instagram

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