The death of former child star Daveigh Chase has left fans mourning the actress who once captivated audiences in films and animated classics. Now, a close friend is opening up about her difficult final years, describing a heartbreaking battle with addiction and homelessness before her death at age 35.
Chase died on June 16 after developing sepsis following a bout of meningitis while hospitalized in Los Angeles. Her manager, John Ryan Jr., confirmed that she had initially been admitted due to severe malnourishment.
The actress rose to fame as the voice of Lilo in Disney’s 2002 animated hit Lilo & Stitch. She also portrayed the terrifying Samara Morgan in the American remake of The Ring and voiced Chihiro in the English-language version of Spirited Away.
Friend Says Addiction Changed Her Life
Shawn Rosenthal, who said he was close friends with Chase between 2018 and 2023, spoke about her struggles in an interview with PEOPLE.
According to Rosenthal, Chase had been living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row in recent years while battling a serious drug addiction.
“She was an incredible singer, and we would play music together that, unfortunately, we never had a chance to record,” he recalled.
Rosenthal said he eventually got sober in 2023, after which he lost contact with Chase.
“I wound up getting clean in 2023, which is why I haven’t seen her since then. Some of her sober friends and I were trying to find her and get her help, but to no avail. She was surrounding herself with the worst of the worst people. It’s such a tragedy because no one cared for her best interests at all.”
He added that the actress had become “unrecognisable” compared to the young performer audiences remembered from her Hollywood career.
“I feared hearing this news. I pray she’s just finally at peace,” he said.
Mother Says She Never Gave Up Hope
Chase’s mother, Cathy Chase, revealed that the last time she saw her daughter was in 2019, saying she had spent years fearing this outcome.
“I actually thought it was fake news,” she told the Daily Mail. “Then all of a sudden, it was on all these different legitimate sites and I realized it wasn’t.”
According to Cathy, her daughter’s struggles began after suffering a back injury in a motorcycle accident around 2016. She believes prescription painkillers, including oxycodone, marked the beginning of the addiction that would ultimately take over her life.
Despite years apart, Cathy said she never stopped hoping her daughter would recover.
“I never gave up on her,” she said. “I was hoping she would still come home.”
Remembering Her Legacy
Chase began acting at just four years old and landed her first Hollywood role at age seven. Over the following decade she became one of the most recognizable young performers of the early 2000s before stepping away from acting full-time in 2015.
Her performances in Lilo & Stitch, The Ring and Spirited Away continue to resonate with audiences, while those closest to her now hope she has finally found peace after years of personal struggles.
