Elizabeth Jacobsen GoFundMe: Family launches fundraiser as Michigan teen dies from powerline electrocution

On August 29, Monday night, 14-year-old Elizabeth Jacobsen died during a storm after being electrocuted by a powerline.

According to Monroe News, the incident occurred in the 1400 block of Peters Street, while Elizabeth Jacobsen was in the backyard with a friend. According to reports, she thought she smelled something burning. She then reached for a downed power line, mistaking it for a wooden stick. Officers and firefighters from Monroe Public Safety, as well as staff from Monroe County Ambulance, rushed to the scene, only to discover that she had died.

Jacobsen aspired to be a police officer (image via GoFundMe)

n the aftermath of Jacobsen's death, the victim's step-sister, Elizabeth Chalupka, has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for funeral expenses. She had raised $7660 of her $15000 goal as of Wednesday, August 31, 2022.

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A community mourns the death of Elizabeth Jacobsen

(Representative image via Filip Vidinovski)

In an interview with Fox, her mother, Martha Jean Hunter, described the moment she discovered her daughter had been fatally electrocuted.

She stated that Jacobsen and her friend were walking around the yard, casually conversing, when they thought they smelled a bonfire, which was actually the smell of the downed power line burning. Martha said:

"They were talking about boys, music, like girl stuff," her mom said. "The next thing I know, her girlfriend comes running in, saying Elizabeth is on the ground, she got shocked."

She told the outlet that her daughter was a kind, sensible girl with aspirations of joining the police force. She added:

"Everybody knew who she was, everyone loved her. She was an outdoors, girl, an animal lover. Like, she wanted to be a police officer when she got older. She had her life figured out at 14."

The victim's father, Edward Jacobsen, said of his daughter:

"I had to feel her soul one last time, where it left her body. It helped with the closure."

He continued:

"Even though she was a girl, she loved being into cars, a very big tomboy, she helped me build a hot rod that I race."

Members of the community have expressed their grief over Jacobsen's death, describing her as a promising and kind 14-year-old girl.

Reverend Heather Boone, a pastor and family friend, said:

"She was a very sweet little girl and she was full of life. This is just a terrible tragedy and my heart breaks for the family and this community. She will be missed."

Andrew Shaw, Interim Superintendent at Monroe Schools, also commented on the death of Elizabeth Jacobsen.

He said:

"Our hearts are with her family and all who knew and loved Elizabeth. There are no words to express the loss of this sweet girl who had her whole life ahead of her."

In the GoFundMe, Chalupka mentioned that this is not the first time that the family has had to deal with a tragedy. She said a year prior to the death of Elizabeth Jacobsen, Martha Jean Hunter had lost her husband.