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Posted on Fri, Aug. 04, 2006
AUDREY LINDVALL | ‘I can’t believe she is gone’
Memories of model go far beyond runway
The woman who lived most of her life in the area died after she was thrown from a bike and fell under a truck.
By KEVIN HOFFMANN
The Kansas City Star
PARKER ESHELMAN | THE KANSAS CITY STAR
A candlelight vigil was held Thursday night at the site in Lee’s Summit where Audrey Lindvall died Wednesday night. Her sister Angela Lindvall left a candle in her memory.
As a little girl, she enjoyed catching crawdads. She dreamed of making the world a better place to live, perhaps by designing earth-friendly homes.
In between, she realized her natural beauty and followed in the footsteps of her sister, a supermodel.
She was happy.
But tragedy struck the family of Audrey Lindvall on Wednesday night, when the 23-year-old was riding a bike near her childhood home. She hit a curb, was thrown from her bike and fell under the rear wheels of a tanker truck carrying fuel to a Lee’s Summit QuikTrip.
She died instantly when the truck rolled over her.
Family and friends gathered Thursday at the Lindvall home in Lee’s Summit. Mourners included her supermodel sister, Angela Lindvall, who flew in from Los Angeles. It was supposed to be the other way around, with Audrey leaving soon for Los Angeles to live with Angela and her family.
Audrey lived most of her life in the area, attending Lee’s Summit High School before moving to New York to pursue her modeling career. Another sister, Michelle Jersett, said that while Audrey enjoyed that career, she had talked recently of going to school and set a bigger goal, something to improve the world.
“Audrey was very compassionate,” she said. “She was really into nature and health.”
As a child, Audrey was fearless, Jersett said, recalling how she used to trek into creeks to snare crawdads. She loved riding her bike around the neighborhood and lounging around the pool. The sisters — Audrey had four of them, and a brother — often played their versions of the old television show “Make Me Laugh.” Audrey was always able to do just that, Jersett said.
Jersett, the oldest, may have sparked the modeling interest in the family when she told her father, Randall Lindvall, that she wanted to go to modeling school at age 16. Angela agreed to accompany her, and was the one to blossom into a supermodel.
Jersett, meanwhile, dropped out of the business and Audrey stepped in.
“It wasn’t really her passion,” Jersett said. “It was sort of like, you’re a beautiful girl, you’ve got that natural look and she had a sister who could help her.”
Over the past five years, Audrey’s career blossomed.
In July, she packed up her belongings and moved them back to her father’s house as she waited to move to the West Coast. A party had been planned for her for this weekend, partly for her move and partly as an early celebration of her 24th birthday on Aug. 11.
On Wednesday night, she and a childhood friend hopped on bikes and pedaled to a nearby pub to have a few drinks with friends. She didn’t like to drink and drive.
As she approached the QuikTrip, the tanker truck was turning into the parking lot to deliver fuel. It stopped for traffic. Audrey apparently struck a curb and was thrown from the bike.
“It’s only a guess, but I think when the truck started to move, she may have tried to get up on the curb or came down off the curb,” said Jersett.
“I can’t believe she is gone.”
Those in the modeling industry who knew Audrey were shocked.
Kim Hoffman, president of the Overland Park modeling agency Hoffman International Inc., said she felt horrible for the Lindvall family, which she described as close-knit.
“She followed in her sister’s footsteps,” Hoffman said. “She just had that fresh, natural beauty … just a great model.”
Ivan Bart represented Audrey at the IMG modeling agency in New York.
“We are devastated by the news of Audrey’s passing,” he said. “She was a wonderful, vibrant person and our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.”
On the West Coast a couple of weeks ago, Angela hugged her sister and told her she would see her in a few weeks. Instead, she sat with family members Thursday, planning funeral services.
“I can’t swallow that I will never be with her physically again. But I know she will be with me in spirit,” Angela said. “I have learned to be grateful … and not to waste one precious moment. Life is short. Live it like it is your last day.”
, I have nothing but love and empathy to all her family and friends.
