What led to 'Lilo & Stitch' star Daveigh Chase's death at 35?
Following news of former child star Daveigh Chase's death at 35, questions are mounting around the cause and circumstances surrounding her death.
The young actress best known for "The Ring" and "Lilo & Stitch" reportedly died Tuesday, June 16, from meningitis and an infection in her blood, her boyfriend Roy Hernandez told TMZ. The outlet reports she was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this month for malnutrition.
In statements to NBC News and The New York Times, her father, John Schwallier, confirmed the cause of death, adding she was homeless and living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died.
Hernandez appears to have set up a GoFundMe in Chase's name prior to her death, to "give her that sense of home and peace in her final days." USA TODAY has reached out to the platform to verify the fundraiser, which has reached over $4,000 of a $5,500 goal, with GoFundMe saying they were looking into it.
Daveigh Chase's manager questions GoFundMe, father reveals estrangement and addiction
After news of her death surfaced, Chase's longtime manager, John Ryan, called the GoFundMe into question, telling Deadline that "myself her father, her uncle and all of us close friends who knew her for decades are encouraging people not to donate."
The GoFundMe, which includes a number of photos of the pair, notes Chase's "difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family." But, Ryan said, "This man making these claims brought her into the hospital in terrible condition and didn't let any of the family know until she passed so he can control the dialogue."
Ryan added, "Daveigh's estate has plenty of means to pay for the cremation."
USA TODAY has reached out to her manager and reps for comment.
Schwailler told The New York Times on Wednesday that the former actress struggled with drugs since she was 13, and that they hadn't spoken since she was 19, around the time she had a falling-out with her mother, his ex-wife.
The manager told the New York Post that he and the actress' stepsister Gaia Brown had attempted to track her down in 2025 to get her into rehab. "We were so close to finding her," he told the tabloid. "Daveigh was the sweetest and brightest light in Hollywood. I can't believe this is real. Her legacy and work will live on forever."
Ryan added that he is also planning a documentary about Chase and the search, titled "Finding Lilo," and that he has pitched it to major studios that expressed interest in the film.
Who is Daveigh Chase?
Chase had her big-screen breakthrough at age 10 costarring as Jake Gyllenhaal's younger sister, Samantha, in the 2001 psychological thriller "Donnie Darko." She continued to find success as a voice actress: playing the young heroine Chihiro in the English-language dub of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away," and the misfit Lilo in Disney's 2002 animated hit "Lilo & Stitch."
That same year, she terrified horror fans as the long-haired, rubber-jointed Samara in "The Ring," who iconically crawls out of a television set in order to claim her victims.
Chase, born Daveigh Schwallier before taking on her mother's maiden name, was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. According to Interview Magazine, she fell into acting at 8 years old, after her mother crashed her car in Los Angeles during a family road trip. Doctors told her mom that she couldn't drive for six months and the family was stuck in L.A., where Chase began going out on auditions.
Aside from her film work, her most prominent television role was in HBO's "Big Love" as Rhonda Volmer, an intended teenage bride raised in a Mormon polygamist sect.
Chase made her last film appearance in the 2016 thriller "American Romance." She mostly stayed out of the spotlight over the last decade, having amassed roughly 50 credits across movies and TV over nearly two decades.