1 / 2

Tabitha Washburn

Courtesy photo

2 / 2

Nathan and Angeline Washburn pose with their family, including their oldest, Tabitha Washburn, who died on Friday, May 13, 2016.

Courtesy photo

❮ ❯

Whenever Angeline Washburn was having a bad day, her daughter, Tabitha, would write down words of encouragement and stick these notes under her mom’s pillow.

“She must’ve written 100 of these in the past few years,” said Nathan Washburn, Angeline’s husband. But their most recent bad days have been met without notes after their daughter died last Friday.

Tabitha, 11, was found dead Friday afternoon in her room, from possibly playing on her bunk bed. Nathan Washburn said Tabitha’s pajamas got wrapped around her neck. She fell off the top bunk and the pajamas choked her to death.

Lone Peak Police could not comment on Tabitha’s death, as the investigation is ongoing. 

Nathan Washburn said they have no idea how long she was alone in her room; other kids were playing in other parts of the house. His wife was at home with the children while he was on an Amtrak train from Sacramento to Salt Lake.

But as soon as he heard about his daughter’s death, he jumped off the train in Reno and flew home as fast as possible.

The medical examiner is determining the exact cause of death to potentially piece together how the incident happened.

As the family grieves the loss of their oldest child, the community around them has embraced them in support, empathy and compassion.

“We’ve got food in freezers in four homes now,” Nathan Washburn said.

He said he and his wife also received about 300 text messages of support and condolences from friends and family.

“Laying in bed that first night just trying not to succumb to the pain of it … reading those text messages was just life-changing,” Nathan Washburn said.

It could be assumed that as the oldest child, Tabitha would be bossy and commanding of her younger siblings. But Angeline Washburn said this was not the case. Tabitha was a caring, empathetic older sister and was practically a third parent for her four younger siblings.

“She could take charge, but man, she just wanted to make people happy,” Angeline Washburn said. “She knew everybody’s favorite color, everybody’s favorite food, and everybody’s favorite game.”

The Washburns both said Tabitha and her siblings were the center of their lives.

“We have no wondering of what we did wrong. We always did fun things with her,” Angeline Washburn said. “Living like that, makes this so much easier to handle and deal with.”

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up in Tabitha’s name to help the family with funeral and other expenses. So far, more than $20,000 was raised for the family through the campaign.

Information on dates and times for the funeral and viewing can be found at the family’s website in her name, tabithawashburn.com.