Articles labeled: depression

Vicki Van Meter set a record back in the ’90s for being the youngest pilot to fly a plane across the United States — she was only 11 years old at the time. She improved on that feat when she was 12, flying a plane from the United States to Europe. But this amazing kid apparently grew up to be a depressed young woman. Van Meter was found dead last Saturday, with the cause of death presumably suicide:

Van Meter died Saturday of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Crawford County coroner said. Her body was found in her Meadville, Pennsylvania, home on Sunday.

Her brother said she battled depression, but her family thought she had been dealing with her problems.

“She was unhappy, but it was hard for her to open up about that, and we all thought that she was coping,” Daniel Van Meter said. He said she had opposed taking medication.

Van Meter was celebrated in 1993 and 1994 when she made her cross-country and trans-Atlantic flights accompanied by only a flight instructor. Her instructors said she was at the controls during the entirety of both trips.

“If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything,” Van Meter said before her second trip. In her teens, she said she hoped to become an astronaut when she grew up.