Sonoma Co. woman killed in plane crash remembered for her spirit

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (KTVU) - She partied in celebrity circles with Kendall Jenner and traveled the country as a rising model.
Now the community of Santa Rosa is mourning the death of 23-year old Mariah Sunshine Coogan.

Coogan was one of six passengers killed Monday when the single engine Piper they were flying in plunged to the ground shortly after take off into the TPC golf course in Scottsdale Arizona.

The NTSB continues to investigate the crash which killed 28-year-old James Pedroza, a VIP host at the MIrage nightclub in Las Vegas.

Also killed in the crash were Pedroza's girlfriend Helena Lagos 22, and Anand "Happy" Patel, 26.

Investigators are looking into whether Pedroza was piloting the plane without a license and if the plane was equipped to carry that many passengers.

The plane was headed from Scottsdale to Las Vegas a flight of one and a half hours before crashing.

Coogan gained fame  as one to the top 10 Instagram influencers her social media page boast over 27,000 followers. 

She left Cardinal Newman High school in her junior year to pursue her dream of modeling and was working for three agencies in Los Angeles.

Graham Rutherford, principal of Santa Rosa's Cardinal Newman high school said this is another tragedy for a school which is still rebuilding from the North Bay wildfires. 

"Mariah was a unique person, she was a happy joyful person she a chance to pursue modeling and she left school to do that and she had success," he said.

Rutherford also spoke to another tragedy that hit the school within the past six months, "besides  the fire and destruction one the children of one of the teachers was killed in a car accident at that point your working to help the families and that's what we are going to do with the Coogen's as well."

People were also leaving messages of condolences on her Instagram page.

Her family owns and runs The Farmhand restaurant and the Riverside Wellness Collective in Guerneville.  

Reached by phone, Coogan's mother, Stacey Coogan, told KTVU that she feels like she has been robbed of one of her four children.

"She's just a bright light," Stacey Coogan said. "She's been such a great child to have. I'll miss her."