Former child actress Daveigh Chase, best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s animated classic “Lilo & Stitch” and for her haunting portrayal of the vengeful spirit Samara Morgan in the horror film “The Ring,” died of AIDS, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. The actress, whose real name was Daveigh Schwallier, was 35 years old.
Chase died on June 16 at a Los Angeles hospital. The medical examiner’s report, released Monday, listed acquired immunodeficiency syndrome as the primary cause of death, with chronic polysubstance use noted as a significant contributing condition. The manner of death was listed as natural, and the case remains open.
The report did not specify which substances may have been involved in her death. Chase had been admitted to the hospital earlier in the month due to severe malnutrition following dramatic weight loss. During her hospitalization, her condition deteriorated rapidly after she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis and several serious blood infections that developed into sepsis.
Initially, details about Chase’s death emerged through her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, who told news outlets that she had died from complications of meningitis and blood infections that caused septic issues leading to organ failure. He had created a GoFundMe fundraising page shortly before her death, describing her as facing significant hardship. However, her actual cause of death was only confirmed Monday by medical examiners.
Chase’s father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to news outlets that his daughter had been homeless in Los Angeles and severely malnourished at the time of her hospitalization. He told reporters that he had not been in contact with her for many years, though he learned of her death and arrived at the hospital before she passed. He expressed uncertainty about her relationship with Hernandez, saying in a text message that he did not know “how much of a boyfriend he was to her.”
Her mother, Cathy Chase, revealed that Daveigh’s addiction struggles began after a motorcycle accident around 2016, when she was prescribed oxycodone and other painkillers. Following the prescription, her mother said, “She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people.” Cathy also told reporters that she last saw her daughter in 2019, when she appeared “completely gone,” and that she later searched Los Angeles’ Skid Row looking for her without success.
Chase rose to international prominence in 2002, a transformative year in which she took on two starkly contrasting roles. That year, she provided the voice of Lilo Pelekai, the spirited young Hawaiian girl at the center of Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch,” earning her the 2003 Annie Award for Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production. She reprised the role in television sequels and related projects. The same year, she starred as Samara Morgan in Gore Verbinski’s horror phenomenon “The Ring,” delivering a chilling performance that earned her the 2003 MTV Movie Award for Best Villain, beating out competitors including Mike Myers, Colin Farrell, Willem Dafoe, and Daniel Day-Lewis.
Earlier in her career, Chase had established herself as a talented young performer. She began acting as a child, appearing in commercials by age 7 and making television guest appearances on shows including “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” “Charmed,” “The Practice,” and “ER.” In 2001, she played Samantha Darko, the younger sister of the titular character portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal, in the cult psychological thriller “Donnie Darko.” That same year, she voiced the lead character Chihiro Ogino in the English-language dub of the acclaimed Japanese anime film “Spirited Away.”
As she transitioned toward adult roles, Chase appeared in HBO’s critically acclaimed drama series “Big Love,” playing the troubled teenager Rhonda Volmer from 2006 to 2011. Her final acting credits appeared in 2016 with roles in the horror films “American Romance” and “Jack Goes Home,” after which she largely withdrew from public life.
Chase’s disappearance from the entertainment industry prompted concern among those who knew her. Her former manager, John Ryan, revealed that he had been developing a documentary about his efforts to locate her, titled “Finding Lilo,” given her decade-long reclusion and the difficulty friends and family had in contacting her.
Following her death, controversy emerged regarding her final arrangements and a GoFundMe campaign created by Hernandez. Her former manager and father publicly cautioned against donating to the fundraiser, with Ryan stating that Chase’s family was independently handling all funeral and cremation arrangements. He emphasized that Chase possessed a SAG-AFTRA trust fund with millions of dollars in untouched residuals from her film and television work that would easily cover such costs.
Chase’s death sparked renewed public conversation about the struggles many child stars face in transitioning to adulthood and managing the pressures of early fame. Her former co-stars and colleagues in the entertainment industry paid tribute, with the directors of “Lilo & Stitch,” Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, sharing artwork in her memory featuring characters from the beloved film.