Daveigh Chase's father speaks out for the first time as actor's tragic death confirmed as AIDs
The father of Daveigh Chase has said he's not surprised to hear that his daughter died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
The Lilo & Stitch voice actor, also known for playing the little girl in The Ring, passed away at the age of 35 on 16 June.
According to a Los Angeles medical examiner report, her cause of death was AIDS with other significant conditions, including chronic polysubstance use, defined by Cleveland Clinic as ‘using more than one substance and following a pattern of use that affects your health and quality of life’.
Footage obtained by The California Post appeared to show Chase looking extremely ill and unable to move while inside a tent last year.
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She was said to be living in Skid Row, home to thousands of homeless people in Los Angeles.
Following her death, Chase's father John Schwallier told The Post that her cause of death ‘is what it is’ and is ‘something you sometimes have to expect with the lifestyle she was living’.
“I had an empty feeling inside for not being with her for all these years,” he said, adding that her remains were sent to her mother, Cathy.
“I actually thought it was fake news, that first time I saw it, and then, but then all of a sudden, it's all of these different legitimate sites had her name and I realised that it wasn't fake,” Cathy admitted to the Daily Mail.
Cathy would search up her daughter, who she last saw in 2019, every evening for her whereabouts.
“I would just put her name in the coroner's [search system] and see if her name came up and if somebody had her somewhere,” she said.
“I would look at their list of unidentified bodies. It was very difficult, but you do everything you can as a mother.”
Daveigh injured her back after a motorcycle accident around 2016, and Cathy said she would take painkillers, such as oxycodone, which she thinks marked the beginning of her addiction.
“She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people. I never kicked my daughter out. She wanted freedom and these people got her hooked on some drugs. That was the beginning,” she added.
Cathy said she never abandoned her daughter and continually tried to help her. But after being in and out of jail from 2018, the last time she saw her was during a visit.
“She was completely gone, like, out of her mind. I honestly thought there was something wrong with her.”
Daveigh Chase: A timeline of her Hollywood career, personal struggles and alleged disappearance
1998
Daveigh Chase becomes an actor by accident. Her mother Cathy crashes her car while on a trip to Los Angeles from their home in Albany, Oregon.
Doctors tell Cathy she can’t drive for six months, and Daveigh is encouraged to pursue her dreams of acting while the family are stuck in L.A.
Aged eight, Chase starts to appear in small parts in shows such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Charmed
2001
Chase lands her breakthrough role in cult film Donnie Darko, playing Jake Gyllenhaal’s onscreen sister Samantha Darko. The character later gets her own spinoff film in 2009 titled S. Darko.
In the same year, she voices lead character Chihiro Ogino in the American dub of Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away.
2002
Chase stars as Samara in the US remake of The Ring aged just 11, and in the same year voice Lilio in Lilo & Stitch.
Mid-2000s
Chase meets John Ryan Jr, who would later go on to manage her.
Ryan says he saw her as a ‘little sister’. After her death, he says Chase liked to drink, but wasn’t into heavy drugs. He checked her into ‘a couple rehabs back in the day’.
2009
Chase says in an Interview Magazine profile: “I just want to make something that I love and people will respect. I want to do things that will change someone’s life, not something they’ll forget about tomorrow.”
2015
According to Ryan, Chase fails to show up to a meeting with Rob Reiner about a role and effectively disappears from public life.
Ryan says she was ‘sober a while’ before she went missing.
February 2017
Chase is arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court for a traffic violation. She is also questioned regarding an unidentified man’s death from an overdose after allegedly leaving him outside the hospital and leaving the scene. Chase was not accused of playing any role in his death.
November 2017
Chase is arrested again after being found in the passenger seat of a car believed to be stolen.
2018
Chase is charged with possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Late 2025
Ryan becomes aware of a video which allegedly shows Chase on Skid Row.
He manages to get her on the phone, but by the time he gets to Skid Row she’s no longer there.
15 June 2026
A man named Roy Hernandez, who says he is Chase’s boyfriend, launches a GoFundMe for her. He writes: “Daveigh was diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections. Her condition has become critical, and the doctors have told me she may not have much time left.”
Ryan later says Chase’s family did not know about Hernandez, and encourages people not to donate to the fundraiser.
16 June 2026
Chase dies at a Los Angeles hospital after suffering from meningitis.
Topics: Celebrity
Anish Vij