Earlier this month, former child actor Daveigh Chase was hospitalized in Los Angeles, California, for malnutrition following a period of extensive weight loss. Her condition soon became critical and she was diagnosed with meningitis and severe systemic blood infections.
On June 16, she died from septic shock and multiple organ failure. She was 35. Her alleged boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, announced the death through TMZ on Wednesday.
Daveigh Chase is best remembered as the voice behind Lilo Pelekai in the 2002 Disney animated feature film, Lilo & Stitch, for which she won the Outstanding Voice Acting in an Animated Feature at the 2003 Annie Award.
While she continued to work in Hollywood for a few more years, including reprising her role as Lilo in the direct-to-video Stitch! The Movie in 2003, the television drama Lilo & Stitch: The Series from 2003 to 2006, and the sci-fi comedy TV movie Leroy & Stitch in 2006, Chase reportedly ran away from home at 16 with her adult boyfriend, Soleil Brown.
In fact, she adopted a bulldog called Stitch from its original owner and fellow child artist Aaron Carter. However, later she allegedly abandoned the pet, locked it inside a room for several days, and even lost it multiple times when she began living with Brown.
Stitch was later rescued by author-singer Hollye Dexter from the middle of a rural highway in Northern California, looking weak and with cigarette marks on its neck. It later led to a custodial battle between Chase, Brown, and Dexter.
Daveigh Chase’s final significant roles were in 2016 in the thriller feature American Romance and the psychological horror movie Jack Goes Home, as well as multiple cameos until 2017. That year, she also lent her voice to Kiwako Seto for the English adaptation of the video game Let It Die.
Retracing Daveigh Chase’s life after ‘Lilo & Stitch’
The same year Daveigh Chase earned overnight fame with Lilo & Stitch, she also delivered one of her other career-making performances as Samara Morgan in the supernatural horror film, The Ring, for which she earned the 2003 MTV Movie Awards as the Best Villain.
Between 2003 and 2004, Chase appeared in the Fox period sitcom Oliver Beene as well as the feature films Beethoven’s 5th and Carolina.
From 2006 to 2011, Daveigh was seen in the recurring role of Rhonda Volmer in the HBO drama series Big Love. At the same time, she was seen partying at nightclubs with other child artists like Aaron Carter and Lindsay Lohan, among others and was involved in the dog scandal alongside her then-boyfriend Soleil Brown.
In 2008, Daveigh Chase voiced the titular role of Betsy in the PBS Kids’ animated series Betsy’s Kindergarten Adventures. The following year, she reprised her role as Samantha in the sequel to her 2001 breakthrough film Donnie Darko. It was called S. Darko.
For seven years, Daveigh Chase faced highly publicized personal and legal struggles, until her final three roles in 2016. She reportedly had a falling out with her family.
Chase had outstanding warrants for multiple misdemeanor traffic violations. In February 2017, she was taken into custody and interrogated after dropping off an unconscious man outside a hospital and driving away. He later died of an overdose. While Daveigh was not charged with any wrongdoing, she was reportedly seen hanging out at a party with the same man hours before his death.
That same year, in November, the former child artist was arrested on a felony charge for being a passenger in a BMW reported stolen in L.A. alongside the driver. She was detained until she was able to post $25,000 bond.
The following August, Daveigh Chase was rearrested for misdemeanor drug possession and later released on a $1,000 bail. Following the back-to-back run-ins with the law, she dropped away from the limelight.
In 2015, Daveigh began posting skating photos of herself on her Instagram, which continued until 2017. Her last social media post came in November of that same year, captioned, “Unicorns do exist.” It showed a black-and-white image of the actress posing beside a huge unicorn balloon. Meanwhile, her last red-carpet appearance was in April 2013 at a Vogue dinner.
Last year, Chase reportedly went missing, prompting her stepsister, Gaia Brown and longtime manager John Ryan to hire a private investigator to locate her. The search led to her being seen in Skid Row, the homeless community in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, after the news of her death made headlines, Ryan told the California Post that before he and Gaia could reach Daveigh in person and send her to a rehab facility in Costa Rica, she again “disappeared.” He claimed:
“We were so close to finding her. Daveigh was the sweetest and brightest light in Hollywood. I can’t believe this is real. Her legacy and work will live on forever.”
According to the Daily Mail, her friends also continued looking for her. Meanwhile, in December 2025, a video surfaced online showing the Lilo & Stitch alum looking sickly with exposed skin and bones as she lay barely conscious on the floor of what appeared to be a tent or a trailer. Rumors about substance abuse also surfaced around the time.
While Roy Hernandez launched a GoFundMe hours before announcing Daveigh Chase’s death via TMZ, John Ryan expressed suspicions about him, telling California Post:
“Apparently, a man claiming to be her ‘boyfriend’ that none of us friends or her family has heard of has set up a GoFundMe on ‘her and her family’s behalf’ that he set her up as the organizer. I can confirm Daveigh has a trust account set up at SAG to cover all costs.”
Meanwhile, the fundraiser titled “Help Daveigh Chase Find Comfort & Peace” has a goal of $5,500 and has raised just over $4,000 as of writing. In the description, the alleged boyfriend wrote:
“Daveigh Chase, my girlfriend, has always been a light in my life. Many people know her as a talented childhood actor from ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘Spirited Away,’ and ‘Donnie Darko.’ But behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship.”
He continued:
“After a difficult childhood and a painful falling out with her family, Daveigh was bullied and struggled to find safety and happiness in downtown LA. When we met, I promised to protect her and give her the love and comfort she deserved. Together, we found moments of happiness and hope.”
It remains unclear when and how Roy met Daveigh. However, reports claim they might have crossed paths in Skid Row. In the GoFundMe, Hernandez revealed Chase’s recent and sudden diagnosis, how it had become serious, and the doctors seemingly telling him, “she may not have much time left.”
“All she ever wanted was a place where we could live together, feel safe, and be happy. Now, more than ever, I want to give her that sense of home and peace in her final days,” the description ended.
According to her longtime manager, Daveigh Chase was “too far gone” into heroin and fentanyl addiction, homelessness, and other health issues, to cash in the millions of dollars in residuals in her SAG-AFTRA account. John Ryan explained that the role of Lilo itself offered his client years of residuals, merchandise sales, and theme park attractions. Meanwhile, Celebrity Net Worth posts her estimated net worth at $3 million at the time of her death.
Edited by Pallavi K