A Utah mother and her preteen daughter were found dead inside a hotel room at the Rio Hotel & Casino after they did not arrive for a cheerleading competition, and police said evidence indicates the mother fatally shot the child before taking her own life.
The deaths, discovered Sunday, Feb. 15, triggered an outpouring of grief from cheer teams and families in Utah and beyond and left investigators working to piece together a timeline inside a room that had initially appeared quiet and undisturbed. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police have not released a motive and said a note was recovered at the scene as detectives continue to review what led up to the shooting.
Police said they were asked to conduct a welfare check after family members and cheer officials could not reach the pair and they failed to appear for scheduled events connected to the competition weekend. Officers responded to the Rio, an off-Strip hotel-casino at 3700 W. Flamingo Road near South Valley View Boulevard, after receiving the request late Sunday morning, authorities said.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Lt. Robert Price said patrol officers and hotel security went to the room and tried repeatedly to make contact. They knocked and called into the room but received no answer. Based on what officers knew at that time, Price said, there was no immediate indication that the occupants were in danger, and officers cleared from the call while advising hotel security of the concerns.
Later in the afternoon, hotel staff received additional requests from family and friends to check again, authorities said. Security returned to the room and ultimately entered, finding two females unresponsive. Police were called, and both were pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. Investigators said the deaths appeared to be the result of gunshot wounds.
Preliminary findings indicate the mother shot the girl and then shot herself, Price said during a news briefing. Police said a note was recovered from the room, but officials have not described what it said or whether it pointed to a specific trigger for the violence. Detectives have also not said how long the pair had been in Las Vegas or who else might have been in contact with them in the hours before they were found.
Utah cheer organizations identified the girl as Addi Smith, a member of Utah Xtreme Cheer, and identified the mother as Tawnia McGeehan in public posts and in missing-person flyers circulated earlier in the weekend. The girl’s age was described by police as preteen. In tributes shared online, Utah Xtreme Cheer referred to her as “our sweet athlete Addi” and said she was deeply loved by teammates and coaches.
Before the deaths were confirmed, cheer officials issued urgent public messages asking for help locating the pair after they failed to arrive at competition activities and could not be reached. Those posts included hotel details and photographs and reflected the close-knit nature of the travel cheer world, where families often move in groups from one city to the next for events. By Sunday night, those same channels shifted to grief, with teams across Utah sharing condolences and describing a loss that felt both personal and communal.
For many families, the weekend had started as a familiar routine: travel, check-in, hair and makeup, early morning schedules and long days inside arenas. Cheer competitions can draw hundreds or thousands of athletes, and teams often spend months preparing for a single routine that lasts just a few minutes on the floor. The sudden deaths of a young athlete and her mother, in a hotel room tied to the trip, cut through the usual rhythm and left parents and coaches focused on supporting athletes who were expecting a normal competition weekend.
Police have been careful in public statements to distinguish confirmed facts from what remains unknown. Officials said the case is being investigated as an apparent murder-suicide, but they have not released details about the firearm, the number of shots fired or the timing of when the shootings likely occurred. Price said no nearby hotel guests reported hearing gunshots, a detail that raised further questions about when the deaths happened and how long the room stayed silent before the welfare check.
Authorities also have not said whether the note found in the room provided a clear explanation or whether it raised additional leads. Detectives typically review such documents alongside phone records, travel details and communications with friends and relatives, building a minute-by-minute account that can confirm timelines and clarify who knew what and when. Police said the investigation is ongoing and that additional information will be released as it becomes available.
In Utah, the news quickly spread across multiple cheer gyms and youth sports circles, where families share rides, hotel rooms and meals during travel season. Utah Xtreme Cheer’s statement described the girl as a cherished teammate and emphasized that she would remain part of the program’s community. Other organizations, including Utah Fusion All-Stars and youth groups that said they knew the family through competitions and events, posted condolences and remembered the girl’s smile and the energy she brought to practices.
The deaths also raised immediate logistical questions for the competition weekend, including how teams would proceed and how athletes would be supported after learning of the tragedy. Organizers and gyms have not publicly detailed changes to schedules or ceremonies, but coaches and parents described a weekend marked by shock and quiet conversations in hallways and hotel lobbies. Several families began sharing fundraising links to help relatives with funeral costs and travel expenses, reflecting how quickly communities mobilize when tragedy strikes on the road.
Investigators said the incident occurred at the Rio, a large property west of the Las Vegas Strip that has long hosted conventions and group travel. Such hotels routinely handle welfare checks and missing-person requests, particularly during large events, but police and hotel security must also follow legal limits on entry when there is no obvious emergency. In this case, police said the initial contact attempt did not provide clear cause to force entry, and the room was checked again later after additional requests came in.
That sequence became a focus in early public accounts, with police describing how officers knocked, called and assessed the situation before leaving, and how security later entered and found the victims. Law enforcement officials said those steps were based on what was known at each point in time, and they stressed that detectives are now focused on the core question of what occurred inside the room and why.
While police have not released personal background details, public posts around the missing-person alert described McGeehan as a devoted cheer parent who traveled with her daughter for competitions. In youth sports, travel weekends often place parents in the role of chaperone, coach assistant and caretaker all at once, and friends described families forming tight bonds through shared costs, shared schedules and long hours together. Those connections were evident in the rapid spread of the missing alert and the wave of grief after the deaths were confirmed.
The investigation is being handled by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which said detectives from its homicide unit are working the case. Officials have not announced whether an autopsy has been completed or when a formal cause and manner of death determination will be issued by the Clark County coroner’s office. Police said the deaths appeared consistent with gunshot wounds and that their preliminary conclusion about the sequence of shots was based on evidence found at the scene.
For the cheer community, the loss has been described in blunt terms: a child who traveled to compete and never made it to the floor. Coaches and parents said the news was especially hard for young athletes to process because competitions are typically framed as safe, supervised spaces where families gather to celebrate teamwork and achievement. In messages shared publicly, teams asked for privacy for the relatives and for sensitivity as athletes returned home.
As of Monday, Feb. 16, police had not released the contents of the note, a motive or additional details about the final hours of McGeehan and Smith. Detectives said their work continues, and officials indicated that the next public milestone will be the coroner’s findings and any investigative update explaining the timeline inside the room.
Author note: Last updated February 16, 2026.