Samantha “Sami” Edwards, a former Miss USA contestant from North Dakota, was found dead on Tuesday in her home in Minnesota.
She was just 37 years old.
Investigators are waiting for autopsy results to determine the cause of Edwards’ death, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported earlier.
A freelance makeup artist, Sami studied at the University of North Dakota and attended the Aveda Institute, a beauty school, in Minneapolis.
She was crowned Miss North Dakota in 2003.
Her best friend, Miss Minnesota USA 2004, Jessica Dereschuk, created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the funeral expenses.
“[Sami] was one of the most vibrant, crazy, compassionate, loyal balls of energy you could ever come across in your life,” wrote Dereschuk.
“A conversation with her,” Dereschuk recalled of her late friend, “could either leave you full of adrenaline or utterly exhausted.”
“She was a spitfire and with Sami you never knew what she’d throw your way – but you ALWAYS knew she would be there for you.”
“She was awesome like that.”
Dereschuk said the beauty queen was famed for her get-togethers: “She loved to gather people together and feed them and create memories.”
“If you were close to Sami, then I know that you have at least one time, had her famous Spaghetti with Zoodles (zucchini noodles)!”
“Being around food & friends / family is when she was truly the happiest and in her element,” she said of a woman she truly adored.
Earlier this week, the Miss USA Pageant Update Facebook page confirmed the tragic news in a brief message to followers:
“Sad news out of the Peace Garden State today.”
“Rest in Peace Samantha Edwards forever Miss North Dakota USA 2003 who passed away suddenly this morning.”
Edwards’ burial service will be held in her hometown of Grand Forks, North Dakota, according to local media reports.
May she rest in peace.
