What Happened to Daveigh Chase? New Details Emerge About Her Final Days and Years of Struggle

Private investigators were hired to hunt for a missing Daveigh Chase before her death. What they eventually found — and what they missed — tells a truly devastating story of a star lost to the shadows.

Daveigh Chase, known to millions as the voice of Lilo in "Lilo & Stitch" and the eerie Samara in "The Ring," has died at the age of 35. The former child star spent years far from the spotlight, but as new details emerge, a much darker picture of her final chapter has come into focus.

Accounts from her father, her manager, and a self-described partner paint a picture of a life defined by systemic struggle. From health crises to millions in untouched wealth, the truth behind her passing is far more complex than a simple Hollywood tragedy.

A Desperate Search on Skid Row

Months before Chase's death, people close to her were already trying to find her. According to a report published by the New York Post, her longtime manager, John Ryan, became alarmed after a video surfaced online in late 2025.

The footage allegedly showed Chase inside a trailer parked on Skid Row in Los Angeles, looking extremely thin and barely conscious. The video prompted Ryan and Chase's step-sister, Gaia Brown, to take action.

According to Ryan, they hired a private investigator in an effort to locate the former actress and get her help. Ryan later traveled to Skid Row himself, hoping to find her before her situation worsened. But by the time he arrived, he said, she was gone.

The search came amid another startling claim. Ryan told the outlet that Chase had millions of dollars in unclaimed residuals connected to her childhood success.

When she signed on to voice Lilo in Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" at just 8 years old, she reportedly received a deal that entitled her to a share of merchandise sales, residuals, theme park attractions, and other projects connected to her voice.

SAG-AFTRA notices regarding unclaimed payments continued arriving at Ryan's office for years. Despite that, he believed she was "too far gone" to be reached, trapped by a cycle of addiction even as her financial future remained paradoxically secure.

Ryan noted that next of kin typically inherit the right to claim a person's residuals after death, which could now leave that money to her father.

A Hospitalization Weeks Before Her Passing

The concerns surrounding Chase's well-being became even more significant after details emerged about her health in the weeks before her death.

According to TMZ, Chase was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital earlier this month because of malnutrition. The hospitalization occurred shortly before what would become her final medical crisis.

Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, later told TMZ that Chase died from meningitis and an infection in her blood that caused septic complications. But before her death, he launched a GoFundMe to help support her care.

In the fundraiser page, Hernandez described the challenges Chase had faced throughout her life, including what he called a difficult childhood, a painful estrangement from her family, and a long struggle to find safety in downtown LA before they met.

"When we met, I promised to protect her and give her the love and comfort she deserved," he wrote. He said the two had found real happiness together despite everything stacked against them.

The campaign described her diagnosis with meningitis and several serious blood infections, calling her condition critical. Doctors, Hernandez said, had warned him she might not have much time left.

What Her Father Said

As details of Chase's final days emerged, comments from her father offered another glimpse into her circumstances. In an interview with The New York Times, John Schwallier said he had been communicating with Hernandez while Chase was receiving treatment.

He arrived at Los Angeles General Medical Center shortly before she died. Schwallier also discussed the conditions Chase and Hernandez had reportedly been living in. "Him and her were destitute," he said.

The remark stood in stark contrast to the image many fans still had of the actress who once starred in major studio productions and television shows. Schwallier also revealed that Chase had struggled with drugs since she was 13.

He revealed he had not spoken to his daughter since she was 19, and that she had experienced a serious falling out with her mother around the same time. Her parents divorced 32 years ago.

From Child Star to Household Name

Daveigh Elizabeth Schwallier was born July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas. Her father worked as a cook and helped build motor homes; her mother attended nursing school but never held a steady job.

Her family moved to Albany, Oregon, just weeks after her birth, and Chase was home-schooled there. At age 6, she won the Little Miss Oregon beauty pageant. A Campbell's Soup commercial followed soon after — and then her breakout role.

In 2002, she became the voice of Lilo in "Lilo & Stitch," a part that would define her childhood in the public eye. The same year, she voiced Chihiro Ogino in the American dub of Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away."

She also played Samantha Darko, younger sister to Jake Gyllenhaal's character, in "Donnie Darko," returning for the little-noticed 2009 sequel, "S. Darko."

Chase wasn't only the voice behind beloved animated characters. In 2002's "The Ring," she became the face of horror as Samara Morgan — the antagonist behind one of the most unsettling images in 2000s cinema — and won an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for the role.

Starting in 2006, she took a recurring role in HBO's "Big Love," playing Rhonda Volmer across 32 episodes over five seasons. Her other credits included "Beethoven's 5th," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "ER," and "Mercy."

Stepping Away From Hollywood By Choice, Not Just Circumstance

Although Chase found success early, those who knew her say she never fully embraced celebrity culture. Speaking to the BBC, Ryan said Chase often stepped away from Hollywood and preferred a quieter life.

He described her as someone who loved cats, worked with rescue organizations, and frequently retreated to Las Vegas for long stretches. According to Ryan, she even turned down major studio opportunities in favor of independent projects.

"She was not very Hollywood," he said. "She'd rather eat at Bob's Big Boy and go home with the cats. She loved acting but wasn't into the fame scene."

Years of Run-Ins With the Law

After largely stepping away from acting after 2016, Chase's legal troubles began attracting headlines. One of the most unusual incidents occurred in February 2017.

According to a TMZ report, Chase dropped a man off outside a Los Angeles hospital during the early morning hours before leaving the area. The man was later pronounced dead.

Authorities learned that Chase had spent time with him before he was taken to the hospital and questioned her about the incident. Ultimately, police did not consider Chase a suspect and verified her claim that she had only been trying to get him medical help.

Investigators treated the case as a possible overdose. But later that year, she was charged after being found riding in a stolen BMW. In 2018, The Blast reported that she faced misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance without a valid prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Questions Surrounding Her Death

Although a cause of death has been given, not everyone close to Chase is at ease with how her final chapter has been handled. Ryan raised concerns about Hernandez's fundraiser after her death, saying he wasn't familiar with the man and questioned the campaign being run in Chase's and her family's name.

"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. I can confirm Daveigh has a trust account set up at SAG to cover all costs," Ryan said.

Whether that SAG trust account, or the untouched millions in residuals from Daveigh Chase's childhood stardom, will reach the family she'd grown distant from remains to be seen.