Daveigh Chase’s mother is speaking publicly about the former child star’s final years after the actress’ death at 35.
Cathy Chase said her daughter struggled with addiction after a back injury from a motorcycle accident led to painkiller use around 2016, according to People. Daveigh was best known for voicing Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and playing Samara Morgan in The Ring.
The actress died Tuesday, June 16. Her father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to Entertainment Weekly, citing The New York Times, that she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection.
Cathy’s comments add a painful family perspective to the public reports about Chase’s death. She said she had last seen her daughter in person in 2019, when she visited her in jail, and that she continued looking for signs of her through social media and public records after losing contact.
Her Mother Said the Struggles Followed a Back Injury
Cathy said Daveigh injured her back in a motorcycle accident about a decade ago and was prescribed painkillers afterward. She told the Daily Mail, in comments covered by People and Entertainment Weekly, that her daughter’s life changed after that period.
People reported that Cathy said she tried to get Daveigh help, but could not legally force treatment on an adult who did not want it. She also said Daveigh struggled with homelessness, and that after a 2019 jail visit, she lost contact with her daughter completely.
Cathy pushed back against criticism that she had abandoned Daveigh. “As a mother, you don’t give up on your child,” she told the Daily Mail, according to People. “I was hoping she would still come home.”
Cathy Chase Said She Kept Searching for Her Daughter
Cathy said she continued looking for Daveigh online, checking social media and the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website for any trace of her daughter. People reported that she had been searching again on June 16, the day Daveigh died, before the news became public.
She described learning of the death as devastating and said she initially hoped the reports were not true. The interview described a mother who had moved to Los Angeles years earlier to support her daughter’s acting career and then spent years trying to find her again after contact broke down.
Cathy said the last time she saw Daveigh was in October 2019, during a jail visit. She had planned to pick her daughter up after her release, but said Daveigh was released early and returned to the streets before Cathy arrived.
Chase Died After Bacterial Meningitis and a Blood Infection
Schwallier confirmed to The New York Times that Daveigh died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection, according to Entertainment Weekly. He also said she had been homeless in Los Angeles and living with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died.
Entertainment Weekly previously reported that Roy Hernandez, identified as Daveigh’s boyfriend, said she had developed meningitis and serious blood infections before her condition became critical. The outlet also reported that Chase had been hospitalized in Los Angeles earlier in June for malnutrition.
People reported that Chase’s former manager and longtime friend John Ryan later urged fans not to donate to a GoFundMe page associated with Hernandez. Keep that fundraising detail carefully attributed if it stays in the story, because the public reporting includes competing claims about the fundraiser and who was handling expenses.
Her Early Roles Reached Millions of Viewers
Chase built her career as a child actor. She voiced Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch, played Samara Morgan in The Ring, appeared in Donnie Darko and voiced Chihiro in the American dub of Spirited Away.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Chase returned to the role of Lilo for Stitch! The Movie, Lilo & Stitch: The Series and Leroy & Stitch. She also appeared as Rhonda Volmer on HBO’s Big Love and had final screen roles in the 2016 films Jack Goes Home and American Romance.
After her death, Lilo & Stitch directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois shared tributes to Chase, with Sanders posting an illustration of Pudge and Scrump. TheWrap reported that Sanders wrote that the actress had “an absolutely beautiful voice” and that she “brought so much to Lilo.”