A plane crash in Wyoming killed 13-year-old Amelia Palmer and left her parents critically injured.
BOISE, Idaho — This article originally appeared in The Idaho Press.
A 13-year-old girl died Monday afternoon when the small plane carrying her family home to Boise crashed near Sheridan, Wyoming, according to a news release from the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office and initial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reporting said that the girl, identified by relatives as Amelia Palmer, was pronounced dead at the scene after the Piper PA-28-180 was found in the Bighorn Mountains in the northern part of the state.
Her 11-year-old brother, Aeron — who made the emergency call for help, according to a Facebook comment from the siblings’ uncle Cole Panike — was taken to a Sheridan hospital with minor injuries. Parents Earl and Cindy were airlifted to Billings, Montana, and remain in critical condition at a trauma center.
“Earl will need major reconstructive surgeries,” reads a GoFundMe page for the Palmers, organized by family friend Andrea Eisenbarth, that has raised over $34,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
Amelia was active in Idaho’s rodeo/pageant scene and was the 2024-2025 Treasure Valley Rodeo Mini Queen, as well as second runner-up for 2026 Miss Junior Rodeo Idaho. Numerous rodeo associations paid tribute to her on social media.
“She always had a smile on her face and was willing to lend a helping hand. Her family was a blessing to everyone they met,” said a Facebook post from Black Canyon Stock Show & Rodeo Royalty.
Kathi Roe, a family friend in the Treasure Valley, characterized Amelia as a “sassy little neighbor girl who knocked on my door 8 years ago” who grew into a “beautiful full of life teen” on her own Facebook page.
The cause of the crash has yet to be determined, according to the FAA.
This article originally appeared in The Idaho Press.