Daveigh Chase’s autopsy report has surfaced with harrowing new details about the former child star’s final days before her death at 35.
The “Lilo & Stitch” voice actress, who died June 16 in Los Angeles, was found unconscious in the back seat of a vehicle on June 4 with a meth pipe nearby, according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s report obtained Tuesday. An unnamed bystander called 911 after observing Chase, who had complained of headache, weakness, confusion, and right thumb pain.
Paramedics transported the “Donnie Darko” actress to a local hospital, where doctors diagnosed her with multiple infections and “advanced and untreated HIV/AIDS.” Medical findings also revealed a right thumb infection and ongoing drug use. Toxicology screenings detected both methamphetamine and fentanyl in her system.
Her health continued deteriorating throughout her hospitalization until her death, the report stated. Chase’s official cause of death was acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, with chronic polysubstance use listed as a contributing factor.
Before her death, video footage showed Chase appearing weak and dramatically thin on the floor of a trailer or tent while staying on Skid Row. The footage was obtained by The Post. Despite her circumstances, she was said to have had $400,000 in personal property.
Roy Hernandez, who identified himself as Chase’s boyfriend, had launched a GoFundMe campaign to help her “find comfort and peace” in her final days. On the fundraiser page, Hernandez called Chase “a light in my life.”
“Many people know her as a talented childhood actor from ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘Spirited Away,’ and ‘Donnie Darko,'” he wrote. “Behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship.”
Hernandez cited “a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family” as factors in her struggles. He claimed the actress had been “bullied” and “struggled to find safety and happiness in downtown LA,” adding that they “found moments of happiness and hope” together.
John Ryan, Chase’s longtime manager, publicly disputed Hernandez’s account and urged fans not to donate. “None of us friends or her family” had heard of the “man claiming to be her ‘boyfriend,'” Ryan told The Post in June.
“I can confirm Daveigh has a trust account set up at SAG to cover all costs,” Ryan said, asserting that Chase had “millions” in unclaimed residuals at the time of her death.
Ryan revealed that he and the actress’s stepsister, Gaia Brown, had hired a private investigator last year to locate and assist Chase. They managed to speak with her by phone, but she subsequently “disappeared.”
Ryan described Chase as “the sweetest and brightest light in Hollywood” while mourning her passing.
Chase rose to prominence as a child performer with memorable roles across film and animation. She voiced the mischievous alien Stitch in Disney’s 2002 hit “Lilo & Stitch” and provided the English voice for Chihiro in Hayao Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away,” also released that year. Her live-action work included playing Samara in the 2002 horror blockbuster “The Ring” and starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Richard Kelly’s 2001 cult classic “Donnie Darko.”
The contrast between her early Hollywood success and her final circumstances has drawn renewed attention following the autopsy release. Her reported financial assets, including the SAG trust account and unclaimed residuals, underscored the gap between her professional earnings and her lived experience in her final period.
The medical examiner’s findings paint a stark picture of untreated illness and substance use compounding in the weeks before her death. The presence of both methamphetamine and fentanyl in her toxicology report, combined with the advanced stage of her HIV/AIDS diagnosis, indicates prolonged health neglect.
Chase’s death prompted Hernandez to characterize her existence as marked by displacement and vulnerability. His fundraising effort, contested by those closer to her professionally, became one of the public flashpoints in the immediate aftermath.
Ryan’s intervention highlighted the fractured nature of Chase’s support network in her final years. The private investigator’s involvement, and her subsequent disappearance after the phone contact, suggested deliberate isolation on her part or circumstances that prevented sustained connection.
The Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s report now provides the most detailed official account of Chase’s physical condition in her final two weeks. From the June 4 vehicle discovery through her June 16 death, hospitalization proved unable to reverse the combined effects of her infections, substance use, and untreated immunodeficiency.