TEMPE, Ariz. — An Arizona State University freshman who had plans to become an astronaut has died. His family has no idea what caused his death.
Jacob Melton, 19, had so much potential. The licensed pilot had dreams of joining the Air Force and becoming an astronaut. But he passed away last week in a bathroom.
“No matter what his goal was, he was going to get it,” said his sister, Summer Melton.
Melton was the youngest of four children. His girlfriend, Abigail Shoemaker, found his body in a locked bathroom after spending the evening with him.
“My dad got the door unlocked, and that’s when I saw him,” said Shoemaker.
Melton’s family has no idea how he died. They are still waiting for autopsy results.
“All we know is that he hit his head,” said Summer.
His family is grappling with the fact that he won’t be able to meet the goals he worked tirelessly for.
“He was supposed to be the one burying us,” said Starr Melton, Jacob’s older sister.
Shoemaker says Jacob was her soulmate.
“We were actually talking about our wedding and how we wanted it to go,” said Shoemaker. “My chest constantly feels heavy, but I can’t cry even when I want to.”
That pain is worsened by the fact that they still don’t know what happened to him.
“It’s really hard. We’d like to have a celebration of life and everything for him and even after we do that we’re still not going to know what happened,” said Summer Melton.
“He wanted to push the limits of the earth; explore new things," she said.
The Melton family has created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Jacob’s funeral.