HIGHLAND — A Highland couple is trying to make sense of the unexpected death of one of their children, after they said their 11-year-old daughter was found hanging from a bunk bed in her room.

“She was working, doing her homework and then just got distracted playing in her room and got her pajamas wrapped around her and strangled her,” Angeline Washburn said of her daughter, Tabitha. “I don’t know exactly what happened or how it happened. I just know that her clothes cut off her circulation and her air.”

Paramedics’ efforts Friday to save the girl did not succeed.

Tabitha’s father, Nathan, was on an Amtrak train at the time, and needed the help of a relative to find a nearby airport to fly home.

“I lost it — I was crying, I was sobbing,” Nathan Washburn said. “We don’t know how long she was there before she was discovered. There were several people in the house and it was just over. It was so quick. It was unbelievable.”

Angeline Washburn said she was with a friend downstairs, and Tabitha had come down earlier in the afternoon in a cheery mood to ask for a treat before returning to her room.

“Then, the next time I went up, she was not okay,” the mother said.

The couple said they were hoping police may be able to supply more answers as to what happened.

Lone Peak police detective Dave Ventrano said Wednesday afternoon the case was still under investigation.

'Little mama' in the house

The Washburns said Tabitha loved her five siblings and did whatever she could to aid her parents in the tasks involved with raising the children.

“She was like ‘little mama’ in the house, always taking care of things and always helping out,” Nathan Washburn said.

Angeline Washburn described her daughter as a “very, very happy kid.”

“She was very social, she loved to talk and she loved to tell stories,” she said. “She loved basketball. She loved hockey. She loved rollerblading and biking and sewing and acting — she loved to act.”

The couple also said their daughter was very compassionate and sensitive, often leaving kind notes for those in the family who needed them.

“‘You cook dinner, you help us when we’re scared,’” Nathan Washburn read from one homemade card from Tabitha to her mom. “‘I know it’s tough, but you’re doing good. Love, Tabitha. I love you.’”

Lesson to other parents

While the Washburns weren’t sure exactly what led to their daughter’s death, they said they hoped their story would alert parents to what can potentially happen when it’s least expected.

“You can’t protect anything,” Angeline Washburn said. “Anything can happen as careful as we are and as protective as we are. Things just happen out of the blue in crazy ways.”

The parents said they were thankful for the time they got to spend with their daughter.

“I think it would be so much harder if I couldn’t remember the last time we talked or if I couldn’t remember the last time we played or done something or I told her I loved her,” Nathan Washburn said.

“She knew I loved her and we had good conversations and we had fun times together,” Angeline Washburn added. “I feel good knowing that I got good time with her.”

The ordeal has led the couple to hold their surviving children a little tighter.

“I will not let time go by without telling them that I love them,” Angeline Washburn said.

Family support

Red ribbons in honor of Tabitha’s favorite color were tied around trees and light posts, red pinwheels dotted the couple’s yard and flowers often showed up on the family’s doorstep Tuesday afternoon, as neighbors did what they could to show their support for the girl’s family.

“Everybody was going up and down the street putting up red bows for her,” Angeline Washburn said, teary-eyed. “There were people constantly coming and giving their condolences and not something they can fix but something that made us feel okay, feel like she was loved and cherished and that they cared about her.”

The couple said they were grateful for the showing of love.

A funeral was planned for Friday, the Washburns said.

The family set up a memorial page and a GoFundMe page to assist with ambulance, hospital and funeral expenses.

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