Ex-Child Star Daveigh Chase Found Living on LA’s Skid Row Months Before Tragic Death
Friends and family of Daveigh Chase were desperately trying to save the former child star before her tragic death.
Chase, 35, died June 16 at a hospital in Los Angeles. The cause was complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection, her father John Schwallier, told NBC News. The Lilo & Stitch actor, who was also suffering from severe malnutrition, was homeless and living near Los Angeles General Medical Center prior to her death, he said.
Daveigh Chase starred in ‘Lilo & Stitch’ and ‘The Ring’
Chase was best known for voicing the character of Lilo in the 2002 Disney movie, as well as playing the ghost Samara in the horror film The Ring. Her other roles include Samantha Darko in the cult favorite movie Donnie Darko, Lilo in the Disney TV series Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and Rhonda Vollmer in the HBO series Big Love.
Despite her success as a young actor, “behind the scenes, [she] faced more than her share of hardship,” he boyfriend Roy Hernandez wrote in a GoFundMe appeal created before her death.
Troubling video showed Chase’s living conditions before her death
Evidence of those difficulties came to light after her death. On Thursday, The New York Post shared screenshots of a video of an emaciated and disoriented Chase living in a tent on LA’s notorious Skid Row.
When Chase’s manager, John Ryan, saw the video – which was first posted in late 2025 – he stepped in to try to get her some help. Ryan and Chase’s stepsister Gaia Brown hired a private investigator to try to track her down. But soon after Ryan connected with Chase by phone, she “disappeared.”
“We were so close to finding her,” he told The Post. “Daveigh was the sweetest and brightest light in Hollywood. I can’t believe this is real. Her legacy and work will live on forever.”
‘Lilo & Stitch’ star’s manager warns against GoFundMe
Ryan also said that he was suspicious of Hernandez’s fundraising efforts on Chase’s behalf. He said Chase was not destitute and still had access to money from her acting work.
“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 families behalf’ that he set her up as the organizer,” he told The Post. “I can confirm Daveigh has a trust account set up at SAG to cover all costs.”
Ryan told Deadline that money from the GoFundMe was “not going toward ANY expenses for Daveigh.”
“Myself her father, her uncle and all of us close friends who knew her for decades are encouraging people not to donate to this page,” he said. “This man making these claims brought her into the hospital in terrible condition and didn’t let any of the family know until she passed so he can control the dialogue. Daveigh’s actual family is handling all arrangements, we have contacted go fund me to let them know this man started this page on his own under Daveigh’s name when she was already unresponsive and urging people to report the page and not donate.”
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