Daveigh Chase, the actress who voiced Lilo in Disney's Lilo & Stitch and terrified audiences as Samara in The Ring, died on 16 June 2026, aged 35. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed AIDS as the cause of death, with chronic polysubstance use listed as a significant contributing condition. The manner of death was recorded as natural.
How Did Daveigh Chase Die?
Chase died at a Los Angeles hospital. Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, initially said she had died from meningitis complications, citing a blood infection that caused "septic issues" leading to organ failure. The medical examiner's report later clarified that the underlying cause was AIDS.
Her father confirmed she was homeless and living near the Los Angeles General Medical Center at the time of her death. Her mother believes the health crisis began after a 2016 motorcycle accident, when Chase was prescribed a strong prescription for pain.
Life on Skid Row and Legal Troubles
In late 2025, a video emerged showing Chase in a tent in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighbourhood, barely conscious. Her former manager, John Ryan, and stepsister, Gaia Brown, had spent months searching for her, even hiring a private investigator. Friends described her as a gifted singer who played music with them until around 2023.
Chase's legal troubles began in February 2017 when police questioned her after a man was found outside a Los Angeles hospital and later died. She was not charged in that incident but was arrested on outstanding warrants and released on $1,805 bail. In November 2017, she was arrested as a passenger in a stolen BMW during a Hollywood traffic stop, facing a felony charge and $25,000 bail.
Further arrests followed: in 2018 for possessing a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia ($1,000 bond); in 2019 two possession charges raised bail to $8,500, with a September arrest setting bail at $60,000; in 2022 for alleged controlled substance possession and burglary ($50,000 bail); and in 2023 on outstanding warrants on 23 July, with a hearing scheduled for December.
Career Highlights and Why She Stopped Acting
Chase began performing at age three in Albany, Oregon. Her breakthrough came in 2001 with Donnie Darko and the English dub of Spirited Away. In 2002, she voiced Lilo in Lilo & Stitch (winning an Annie Award in 2003) and played Samara Morgan in The Ring (winning the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003). From 2006 to 2011, she played Rhonda Volmer in HBO's Big Love. Her final acting credit was American Romance (2016).
In a 2009 Interview Magazine feature, she said: "I just want to make something that I love, and people will respect. I want to do things that will change someone’s life, not something they’ll forget about tomorrow."
Chase made no formal announcement of retirement. Her mother said the 2016 motorcycle accident was the turning point. Prescribed a strong pain medication, she developed a dependency that escalated into years of substance use and homelessness. Her social media went dark by 2017, and she never returned to the screen.
Relationship, Estate, and Aftermath
Chase was in a relationship with Roy Hernandez, who proposed in 2024. In February 2026, he had her name tattooed above his eye. He was with her during her final days and was the first to announce her death. Hernandez set up a GoFundMe campaign, but Chase's former manager issued a public warning urging caution around it. The couple were never married.
Her exact net worth at death has not been published by authoritative financial outlets. Los Angeles probate filings put the value of her personal property at approximately $400,000, while other court documents cited by the NZ Herald estimated the figure closer to $690,000. She died without a will, and her mother petitioned a Los Angeles court to administer the estate.
