It is with heavy hearts and profound sadness that we share the passing of Charlotte Fosgate, a 17-year-old from Oak Grove, Oregon, who left this world on May 2, 2025. She jumped off the bridge to commit suicide.
Known online as @burntfishie, Charlotte was a vibrant and creative teenager navigating life as a transgender girl in a world that too often failed to show her the kindness she so deeply deserved. She was last seen on the evening of May 1 and reported missing soon after. Her final public messages, posted the next morning, offered a heartbreaking farewell from a high bridge—an image that now haunts everyone who knew and cared for her.
Charlotte’s tweets, which quietly said goodbye—”it’s a pretty view” and “long way down”—were viewed millions of times in the hours after her death. But what should have been a space for grief and remembrance became a mirror of society’s cruelty. The response from parts of the internet was callous, transphobic, and dehumanizing—a tragedy in its own right.
But Charlotte was not a joke. She was not content. She was a child—a daughter, a friend, a soul in pain who still smiled, still shared jokes, still had dreams. She loved art, music, and expressing herself online in the only ways she felt safe. Charlotte had so much left to do, so much left to say, and so much love left to give.
Despite the noise of online mockery, there were also voices of compassion. Many came forward to mourn her loss, to speak out against the hate, and to extend hands of support to others like her who may be struggling in silence. One user wrote, “She was just a kid. This world didn’t deserve her.” Another shared resources for the trans community, including the Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860.
Charlotte lived in a world where being different often meant being targeted. She lived in a society that criminalized her identity and vilified her truth. Yet through all of that, she dared to be herself. That, in itself, was an act of courage.
Her death is not just a personal loss, but a societal failure—a reminder of the urgent need for compassion, mental health care, and safety for transgender youth. According to national data, transgender teens like Charlotte face staggering rates of depression, rejection, and suicide. But none of it is inevitable. Every life lost is one we could have saved.
Charlotte’s memory will live on through those who refuse to let her final moments define her legacy. Her story is a call to action—a plea to do better, to speak up, and to make this world safer for every young person struggling to be seen.
She is survived by her loved ones, whose privacy is being respected during this time of immense grief.