Donnie Darko actress Daveigh Chase dies at 35

Daveigh Chase: from The Ring child star to homeless death from meningitis

The actress who voiced Lilo in 'Lilo & Stitch' and played Donnie Darko's sister has died at 35. According to her boyfriend and her father, Chase died on June 16 in a Los Angeles hospital from meningitis and a blood infection. She had been admitted for malnutrition and had been living as a homeless person in Skid Row, the city's toughest neighborhood.

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The news, first reported by TMZ, has reignited the debate over the price of child fame and the opioid crisis in the United States. Chase, who starred in cult films like 'Donnie Darko' and 'The Ring', had spent years mired in legal troubles and addiction. Her representative had launched a documentary, 'Finding Lilo', to track her down after a video showed her living on the streets.

Meningitis – inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord – claimed her life shortly after she turned 35. Authorities have not confirmed whether fentanyl use contributed to her decline, but speculation suggests it did. "I can picture it: a fentanyl-addicted zombie," one social media analysis summed up.

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Chase filmed her last movie barely ten years ago. Since then, her career went into freefall: arrests, a charge for leaving a dying man at a hospital in 2017, and finally the streets. Her case illustrates how the American system lets its child stars fall without a safety net, while fentanyl runs rampant. "Brutal how you can wreck your life when you had it made," read one comment in the discussion.

The debate in Spain has centered on whether "we keep irresponsible people afloat here" – a view that contrasts with the lack of social protection in the U.S. The reality is that the combination of early fame, no adult guardianship and hard drugs is a lethal recipe that knows no borders.