Dallas

12-Year-Old Victim of Deadly House Explosion Identified

The victim of a deadly house explosion in Dallas has been identified as 12-year-old Linda Rogers. She was known as "Michellita," according to her cheer coach.

There was a gas explosion Friday morning at the home she shared with her family on Espanola Drive in Dallas.

Four other people who were in the home were also hospitalized at Parkland in unknown conditions.

Officials say firefighters found her in her father's arms and tried desperately to save her.

Michellita was a member of the Falcons Elite Cheer team for two years.

Michellita's cheer coach, LaToya Gibson, tells NBC 5 she rushed to the hospital after hearing about the explosion and spent much of the day with the Rogers family.

"She was an amazing kid. Fun and sassy and she kept me on my toes all the time," Gibson said, tearfully.

She attended Uplift Williams Preparatory School in Dallas. The school sent out the following letter to parents Friday night:

"It is with heavy hearts and deep sadness that we’re writing you about the passing of Linda Rogers, an Uplift Williams 6th grade scholar.  The Rogers family has been a long-time family at Uplift Williams and experienced a tragic loss early this morning during a gas leak explosion at their home.  The explosion destroyed their home, injured multiple family members, and took the life of their daughter, who was one of our scholars.

"This is a heartbreaking loss for the Uplift Williams community.  We shared this news with our middle school scholars and recognize our primary or high school scholars may learn about this incident and need support processing their emotions.  Throughout the day, our Social Counseling team was available to scholars and staff and will continue to provide support next week.  We are also providing some resources from our counseling team to help talk with your child about grief.

"We are continuing to stay in communication with the Rogers family, and based on their wishes we may follow up with more details and ways to support them."

Atmos Energy is working to determine what caused the explosion, as well as at least two other incidents in the prior 48 hours at homes in the same neighborhood.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the Rogers family.

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