8-Year-Old and Family Dog Die After Tree Falls on Tent During Camping Trip: 'Completely Devastated'
The girl, identified by loved ones as Cadence Eastin, was camping with her parents, seven siblings and the family dog when the tree fell, authorities said
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Cadence Eastin.An 8-year-old girl and her family's dog died earlier this month after a tree fell on a tent they were sleeping in during a camping trip, authorities said.
The victim, identified by loved ones as Cadence Eastin, was camping with her parents and seven siblings on Sept. 9 when the tree fell in Boise National Forest, according to the Ellmore County Sheriff's Office.
The tragic accident occurred around 5 a.m. local time, "instantly" killing the 8-year-old and their family dog, a relative wrote on a GoFundMe page.
Deputies were called to the scene in the Pine Idaho area, off Old Logging Road, but the child was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's office.
Authorities said that the incident occurred in the same area where the Elk and Pony complex caught fire. According to Idaho Rangeland, the 2013 fires consumed 280,000 acres of rangelands and forests in a matter of days.
"The results of the fires left burned-out trees, and over time caused these trees eroded, leaving them unstable," the sheriff's office said in a statement.
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"We now know that the campsite area was a mix of pine and cottonwood trees and that the particular tree that caused the fatality was a cottonwood tree with rot at its base," authorities added.
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The sheriff's office is now warning visitors to be on the lookout for "the inherent dangers" in remote areas of the county.
Meanwhile, Candice is being remembered as a "truly special child" and for "always having a cheerful, happy nature."
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"Cadence was bright, intelligent and an eager to learn student," the organizer, Aurora Pearce, wrote on the GoFundMe page. "Curiously, she almost always hung out with the adults at family gatherings and seemed to have been gifted with a higher intellect than would normally be expected of an 8-year old child."
Pearce shared that the family is "completely devastated" by the child's death.
"In spite of the knowledge that Cadence has been taken home to God, they will miss her every day for the rest of their lives," Pearce wrote. As of Thursday morning, over $30,000 has been raised.
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