The U.S. Air Force Academy is investigating after a 19-year-old first-year cadet was found dead in his dorm room in Colorado this week.
Avery Koonce, of Tyler, Texas, was “discovered unconscious” in his room at his Colorado Springs home on Thursday, the USAFA said in a statement.
“Academy paramedics were called and attempted life-saving measures but were unsuccessful. The cause of death is under investigation,” the academy added.
Koonce is a member of the USAFA Class of 2028 and was a member of the school’s women’s track and field team.
“I am very happy to announce that I will be attending the United States Air Force Academy to pursue track and field! I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me on this journey. To God be the glory!” the teenager wrote to X in December.
The post also included photos of Koonce in his academy uniform, holding a relay baton in one photo and striking a “Top Gun”-style pose in a flight suit and aviator hat in another.
“We have lost a great teammate… Though Avery was only with us for a short time, she made a positive impact on the unit, the intercollegiate team and the classroom. Her loss will be felt throughout USAFA,” the academy’s superintendent, Lt. Gen. Tony Bauernfeind, said in a statement.
“Our team is focused on providing support to Avery’s family, the 38th Cadet Company, the track and field team and the entire Academy family.”
Koonce was a member of the track and field team at Thrall High School in Thrall, Texas, and graduated from the school this year. In March 2023, she posted to X that she had set a personal best in the 100-meter dash and also broken her own school record.
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), who recommended Coons to attend USAFA outside Colorado Springs, said he was “deeply saddened to hear of the death” of the cadet.
He called her a “talented athlete” and said she plans to major in biology and minor in exercise physiology with hopes of becoming a pilot physical therapist.
Friends and acquaintances expressed their condolences on social media.
“She was so sweet, kind and amazing at everything she did,” one person wrote in the Instagram comments section.
According to CBS News, Koonce’s family declined to comment when contacted by The Washington Post on Saturday but later released a statement through the USAFA.
“Our daughter, Cadet Avery Koonce, was an incredibly bright light in this broken world, and with her gone our lives have been faded forever. Avery is loved by so many,” they said. “We find peace knowing that Avery is in the arms of her Heavenly Father and that we will be with her again.”
“She was not a perfect person, but she was the perfect daughter. Our only goal now is to love our siblings and learn to live with the pain of losing Avery,” the grieving family continued.
“We were so blessed to have had the privilege of calling Avery our own for 19 wonderful years, and our prayers go out to all who are grieving her loss.”