At age 11, Vicki Van Meter piloting a plane across the country. At age 12, she flew from the U.S. to Europe. Sadly, at age 26, she died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Her brother said she battled depression and opposed medication, 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. "This really is a shock, because we didn't see the signs."After her famous youth, she earned a degree in criminal justice from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania and spent two years with the Peace Corps in Cahul, Moldova. Said her mother: "She led a full and interesting life...She had more guts than any of us could ever imagine."
Van Meter made national headlines in 1993 and 1994 when she made her cross-country and trans-Atlantic flights accompanied only by a flight instructor. Her instructors said she was at the controls during the entirety of both flights.
[AP]
