EPHRAIM—An Ephraim family is stunned and in mourning after the sudden and mysterious death of their 12-year-old daughter.

But they aren’t going through this dark time alone. As is often the case in Sanpete County, the personal tragedy has become communal. People in Ephraim and beyond—friends and strangers alike, even crossing county boundaries— have taken a little bit of the Josh Rasmussen family’s grief upon themselves.

“It’s a very massive community support. There’s so many people who have had experiences with the Rasmussens,” says Brock Smith of Ephraim, whose family knows the Rasmussens.

From a vigil that could have drawn 1,000 people, to schools wearing specific colors to show their empathy, Smith was right. Even for Sanpete, the outpouring has been extraordinary.

Allyson JaLeigh (“Ally J”) Rasmussen was 12-years-old, the youngest of Josh and Mollie Rasmussen’s five children. But with the older four all being brothers, she was the first of their children “to wear pink and bows,” the family wrote in her obituary.

She was a sixth grader at Ephraim Middle School. That’s the same school where her father, Josh Rasmussen, has taught music for 21 years, instructing the school choir and the jazz, percussion and guitar ensembles.

(In February 2024, Josh Rasmussen received the Educator of the Year Award for middle schools from the Utah Music Educators Association.

On the evening of Friday, March 14, Ally died, completely unexpectedly, from a subarachnoid hemorrhage (a brain bleed in the space between the brain and the membrane that surrounds it).

People who knew “Ally” describe her as friendly, happy, “with just the right amount of spice.” The most-used descriptor, though, is “loving”; indeed, a few days after Ally’s death, her family was given T-shirts that had been imprinted with the “Love Like Ally.”

She loved dancing, sports and music, but her passion was volleyball. The first club-volleyball jersey she ever received was pink and blue—and since her death, U.S. 89 from the south end of Manti to Walmart has been decked out in pink and blue ribbons in honor of her and in support for her family.

Her father took a photo of her in that treasured jersey at a volleyball practice just hours before she died.

“There was a picture of Ally, excitedly holding a soccer jersey that was pink and blue,” Brock Smith said. The word got around “that if you wore pink or light blue, you’re showing support for Ally’s family.”

At least three other schools besides Ephraim Middle School— North Sanpete Middle School, North Sanpete High School, and Manti High School—picked up the colors as a show of support. Manti High School’s entire student body turned out for a pink-or-blue clad picture.

Smith said his brother is on the track team at Manti High. The team is planning a 5K charity run, tentatively for Saturday, March 29.

Bjorn Crowther is another Ephraim resident familiar with the Rasmussens. He describes them as friends of his family. “The Rasmussens, they’re involved in everything…Everyone knows them,” he said.

Crowther attended the vigil Saturday night for Ally and the Rasmussens, and posted a video on Facebook capturing some of the event.

“The whole community,” as he put it, met at Ephraim’s Canyon View Park to light candles before walking to the Rasmussen home a block away.

He says he’d be surprised if there weren’t 500 people there. Josh Rasmussen, in a Fox 13 news story, said he thought there could have been a thousand.

As the Rasmussens stood outside their home, the throng joined in singing “Peace in Christ,” a contemporary LDS song, that in one part says, “He gives us hope/When hope is gone/He gives us strength/When we can’t go on./He gives us shelter/In the storms of life.”

Crowther said, “The atmosphere was super tender, super spiritual, super loving.”

Afterward, the Rasmussens spent the next hour receiving hugs, well wishes, gifts and love. “Lots of crying, lots of tears,” Crowther said, but not all of them grief-stricken. “Even though there was a lot of sad, there was a lot of joy, too.”

There was a lot of crying when Crowther visited the Rasmusssens to present the video to them.

“They had tissues ready; they knew they were going to cry,” he said. “They gave me a big long hug and told me it was something they’re going to cherish forever.”

To support students who may be grieving, Ephraim Middle School has provided counseling services.

But the school is doing more than that. A table has been set up where students can write messages to Ally or the Rasmussen family. Those notes will be compiled and bound together in a book to be given to the Rasmussens.

The outpouring of support the family has received might be best illustrated by something Crowther saw when he was there. He said people have been “pouring in” to their home.

On the Rasmussens’ front door, they have posted a sign: “Just come in, don’t even take off your shoes.”

Fairview resident Nora Shelley Booher, a family member of the Rasmussens, is receiving donation funds for them through a Venmo account. To donate, people can look her up on Venmo: “@Nora-booher.”

But she requests that donors verify they have the right account, as some less well-intentioned people are making fake donation accounts to capitalize off the family’s tragedy.

A celebration of life will be held during the next two days (Thursday and Friday, March 20-21). Viewings will be held at the Ephraim Stake Center (400 E. Center St.) tonight from 6-8 p.m. and tomorrow morning from 9-10:30 a.m. Funeral services will follow Friday’s viewing, beginning at 11 a.m.

The funeral services will be streamed live over Zoom. The Zoom link will become active 15 minutes prior to the start of services, and can be found on Ally’s obituary page at www.rasmussenmortuary.com.