Entertainment
Lilo And Sitch Star Tragically Passes Away At 35
By Jennifer Asencio
| Published
Daveigh Chase may not be a household name, but her face is known everywhere, and she also provided the voice for one of the most beloved Disney films of the modern era, Lilo and Stitch. Despite her legendary status as a juvenile, she did not fare so well as an adult. The actress passed away on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, after battles with drug addiction, homelessness, bacterial meningitis, and a blood infection. She was 35.
While her career was short-lived, it carried three notable roles that make her almost universally recognizable to fans of all stripes.
Daveigh Chase’s Iconic Roles
Her best-known voice-over role was as Lilo in Lilo & Stitch, the 2002 Disney animated feature about a young Hawaiian girl who befriends a dangerous but cuddly alien lifeform. The story centered around Ohana, a concept of family togetherness that leaves no one behind. When Stitch invades the lives of Lilo and her beleaguered older sister and caregiver, Nani, the little girl mistakes him for a dog and adopts him into her home. While Nani has to dodge social workers seeking to separate Lilo from her, government agents and alien bounty hunters are on the search for Stitch. Chase voiced Lilo for both the movie and the three-season TV show.
She also provided the voice of Chihiro Ogino in the English dub of the famous Hayao Miyazaki movie, Spirited Away. This 2001 classic introduced an entire new generation of viewers to Japanese animation and to the work of the amazing artist, bringing it beyond the niche anime fandom of other works like Princess Mononoke and Kiki’s Delivery Service and inviting numerous fans to join the anime craze.
From Animation To Live Action
Chase’s connection to Japanese cinema would not end with Spirited Away. Mere months after the release of Lilo & Stitch came her breakout live-action role, as the sinister Samara in The Ring. The 2002 horror film was an adaptation of the Japanese classic Ringu, and at the time, Japanese horror was very popular in the United States, as shown by the success of adaptations like The Grudge and imports like Audition.
For Chase, though, the role of Samara put her in the center of the action. Almost everyone has seen the iconic black-haired child crawl out of the well and emerge from the TV, even people who have never heard of The Ring. The scene has been shown, spoofed, and rehashed numerous times, forming a cornerstone of Western culture despite its Japanese roots.
A Life Cut Tragically Too Short
Unfortunately, Chase’s adult life more resembled Samara’s horror story than it did Lilo’s Ohana. Ditching her family at the age of 19, she had an adult life plagued with drug use and scrapes with the law, according to John David Schwallier, her estranged father. She had apparently been homeless, living on the streets near the hospital in which she died with her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez. Hernandez had attempted to collect funds to help her, and he and Schwallier had been in touch prior to her passing, allowing Schwallier to spend her last days with her and announce the news.
Many people loved Daveigh Chase in her childhood roles, but despite growing into a beautiful young woman, her career dried up when she became an adult. Her iconic films are all we have to remember her by, particularly her chilling turn in The Ring. May she find the peace in death that she never found in life.