On Monday, February 17, 2025, Kadance was driving in Santa Rosa County. For reasons unknown, her car crossed the center line and crashed head-on into a tractor-trailer, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. She was declared deceased at the scene.
"She was literally three minutes from home," Kadance's mom, Lisa Fredericksen, tells PEOPLE Magazine, adding, "I have no idea what happened."
Lisa notes that it's still unclear what caused her daughter to veer in front of the tractor-trailer. She says she wasn't home at the time, but her oldest daughter, who lives next door, learned about the accident from authorities.
Lisa formally adopted Kadance in 2017. According to the mom, Kadance experienced abuse in her early childhood, and the decision to enter the pageant world came "after years of therapy."
Kadance came home one day and asked her mom, "Mama, can I do a beauty pageant?" Lisa responded, "Well, yeah, but if you do a beauty pageant, you have to talk in front of people." According to Lisa, Kadance still didn't talk much.
"And she did it," Lisa tells PEOPLE. She says Kadance bought the ugliest dress she could find because she just wanted to be like a princess. However, "she didn't win a thing," Lisa continues. Kadance competed for the Miss Florida Teen USA 2024 and made it to the top five finalists. However, she didn't win the crown.
She's the most recent winner of the Miss Okaloosa County Teen USA pageant, according to E! Online.
Lisa tells PEOPLE that Kadance was a "kindhearted" and "generous" person who "only wanted everybody to be happy." Kadance began to volunteer with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, and since 2017, she's raised over $25,000 for the charity, according to Lisa.
She eventually created Kada’s Promise, her own organization, which donates blankets and teddy bears to children in abuse and homeless shelters, foster care, and hospitals.
Kadance, who also wanted to become a veterinarian, had been accepted to nine colleges, her mom says. As a matter of fact, she was awarded a presidential scholarship at Mississippi State University just a day before the deadly crash.
Now, the family is hoping to keep Kadance's legacy alive through Kada’s Promise. The teen's family says they "want the whole world to know who Kadance is," and they want to continue touching as many lives as they can.
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