The cause of death of former child actor Daveigh Chase has been released, just weeks after she died following years of drug addiction and homelessness.
Chase, best known for starring in the 2002 horror film The Ring and originating the voice of Lilo Pelekai in the 2002 animated movie Lilo & Stitch, died June 16 at the age of 35.
Her death was announced by her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, who told TMZ that she died from meningitis and an infection in her blood, which caused her to have septic issues and led to her body shutting down.
The outlet has now reported that the L.A. County Medical Examiner listed Chase’s official cause of death as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, better known as Aids, with chronic polysubstance use — which is the repeated use of two or more drugs at a time — listed as a significant contributing factor.
Aids occurs at the most advanced stage of HIV, a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, according to the World Health Organization. HIV can be transmitted via the exchange of body fluids from people living with the disease, including blood, breast milk, semen, and vaginal secretions. While HIV is highly treatable, when left untreated, it can progress to Aids, a life-threatening condition.
Days before her death, Hernandez had launched a GoFundMe page to raise funds for her treatment. “Daveigh was diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections. Her condition has become critical, and the doctors have told me she may not have much time left,” the page read.
Following Chase’s death, her mother, Cathy, revealed that she had spent years desperately searching for her daughter after she disappeared following stints in prison.
Chase had been jailed in Los Angeles after being charged with two counts of burglary, and her mother noticed an extreme change in her daughter when she visited her in prison.
“She was completely gone, like, out of her mind,” Cathy told the Daily Mail. “I honestly thought there was something wrong with her. My daughter was never diagnosed with mental health other than PTSD. But the drugs took hold of her.” She added that Chase had been “seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people” in the wake of injuring her back in a motorcycle accident in 2016, which she believes led to her becoming addicted to painkillers, then other drugs.
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Chase had agreed to be taken home by her mother upon release from prison, but was released a day early and fled before her mother’s arrival. “When I got there, she never waited,” Cathy recalled. “She went back to the streets and I couldn’t find her.”
Cathy’s comments echo those of Chase’s former manager, John Ryan, who revealed that he hadn’t seen his client in a decade.
“At first, I thought she was kidnapped or something, and then we started putting two and two together,” Ryan explained, adding that he had helped Chase into “a couple of rehabs back in the day,” but that she and her friends weren’t overly concerned about her sobriety.
He said a missing persons report was never filed because Chase left of her own admission. He recalled seeing her occasionally make headlines, such as in 2017 when she was arrested for riding in a stolen car.
