{"id":7664,"date":"2026-02-24T10:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7664"},"modified":"2026-02-24T10:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T10:32:14","slug":"we-could-still-hear-her-and-then-we-couldnt-a-simple-family-ski-run-turned-into-a-nightmare-in-seconds-eleven-year-old-madelyn-eitas-was-caught-in-an-avalanche-n","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/?p=7664","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe could still hear her\u2026 and then we couldn\u2019t.\u201d A simple family ski run turned into a nightmare in seconds. Eleven-year-old Madelyn Eitas was caught in an avalanche near Brighton Ski Resort while skiing with her family \u2014 in an out-of-bounds area many don\u2019t realize can turn deadly without warning. One moment, it was just snow and laughter. The next, chaos. In the frantic search that followed, her brother reportedly used a phone app to help pinpoint Madelyn\u2019s location beneath the snow \u2014 a detail that now feels almost impossible to process. But there\u2019s another element of what happened on that slope that\u2019s raising difficult, unanswered questions. The family isn\u2019t ready to share everything. Not yet. There is video footage connected to the aftermath \u2014 and those who\u2019ve seen it say it changes how you understand those final moments on the mountain. WATCH FULL BELOW \ud83d\udc47"},"content":{"rendered":"

The victim who died due to an avalanche near a Utah ski resort earlier this week has been identified as an 11-year-old Massachusetts girl.<\/p>\n

Madelyn Eitas of Rochester, Mass., was identified as the victim of the avalanche that happened at Brighton Ski Resort in Brighton, Utah, around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, according to WCVB, Boston 25 News and CBS News, all citing police.<\/p>\n

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The girl had been backcountry skiing with her family when the avalanche hit and she got caught in it, according to the outlets.<\/p>\n

The Unified Police Department (UPD) of Greater Salt Lake told the outlets that first responders headed to the scene and when they arrived, they found her family and about 20 other people already trying to search for her.<\/p>\n

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\"HUNTSVILLE,<\/div>\n<\/div>
A person skiing in the Wasatch Mountains in Utah on Feb. 10, 2026.<\/span>Mario Tama\/Getty <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Her brother, Cameron, then \u201cheroically used an application to locate her,\u201d per the outlets, though police did not say what kind of application was used.<\/p>\n

\"Family,<\/p>\n

Once Madelyn was located, first responders began life-saving measures on her before she was transported via ambulance to a nearby hospital in critical condition. She died at the hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur thoughts are with the victim\u2019s family during this incredibly difficult time,\u201d UPD said, per CBS News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe communities here in Utah, as well as the family\u2019s home community in Massachusetts, now have the important responsibility of rallying around the family to provide support, compassion, and comfort in the times ahead,\u201d police added.<\/p>\n

\"HUNTSVILLE,<\/p>\n

PEOPLE reached out to the Unified Police Department for comment on Saturday, Feb. 21, but did not receive an immediate response.<\/p>\n

The Old Rochester Regional School District confirmed to WCVB and Boston 25 News that Madelyn was a student at Rochester Memorial School and had been on a family vacation in Utah when the avalanche happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is devastating news for our school community. We offer our sincere condolences to the student\u2019s family, friends, classmates, and teachers during this unimaginable time,\u201d the district said in a release, per WCVS and Boston 25 News.<\/p>\n

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\"FILE<\/div>\n<\/div>
Skiers and snowboarders flock to Brighton Ski Resort in Brighton, Utah, in 2018.<\/span>Steve Griffin\/The Deseret News via AP <\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The district also said, per the outlets, that counseling and support services will be made available for students and staff over the next several days.<\/p>\n

Madelyn\u2019s death came a day after another similar snow slide near a Utah ski resort claimed the life of a father who was out snowmobiling with his son, who survived. That incident took place around 4 p.m. on Feb. 18 in the Snake Creek area west of Midway, the Wasatch County Sheriff\u2019s Office (WCSO) stated in a press release.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestigation determined that an adult male and his juvenile son were snowmobiling in the area when the avalanche occurred. The adult male was caught and buried in the slide,\u201d the sheriff\u2019s office said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The victim who died due to an avalanche near a Utah ski resort earlier this week has been identified as an 11-year-old Massachusetts girl. Madelyn Eitas of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7665,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7666,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7664\/revisions\/7666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grow48.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}