Daveigh Chase's mother is opening up about the toll addiction took on her daughter. Three days after The Ring star died at 35, Cathy Chase spoke to the Daily Mail about what her daughter faced in her final years.
"It felt like something inside of me squeezing all of the air out of me, and at the same time, it felt like I was exploding outwardly," Cathy recalled of learning the news. She described hearing herself let out "guttural" and "primeval sounds" as she ran into the backyard screaming.
According to Cathy, Daveigh's troubles began after a motorcycle accident in 2016, when she was prescribed painkillers including oxycodone for a back injury. "She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people," her mom explained. "These people got her hooked on some drugs. That was the beginning."
The Lilo & Stitch voice actress spiraled over the years and landed in jail multiple times. The last time Cathy saw her daughter was in 2019 during a prison visit. "She was completely gone, like, out of her mind," Cathy said. "I honestly thought there was something wrong with her."
They had made plans for Daveigh to stay with her after release, but the actress never showed up. "She went back to the streets and I couldn't find her," Cathy revealed. "It upsets me because people are saying I must've been a bad mother, but I never gave up on her. As a mother, you don't give up on your child."
In the years that followed, Cathy regularly searched the L.A. County Medical Examiner's database, clinging to hope. When Daveigh died on June 16 from meningitis and a blood infection, her mother initially thought news reports were fake. After identifying her daughter's body on June 18, Cathy and a chaplain prayed over the remains through the glass.
