The father of Daveigh Chase, the actress known for her roles in The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, has broken his silence following the official confirmation that she died from AIDS-related complications.
John Schwallier, Chase’s father, said the news did not come as a shock given the difficult life his daughter had been living. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed on Monday that the 35-year-old actress died from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) on June 16 in a Los Angeles hospital.
The coroner’s report also listed “chronic polysubstance use” – repeated use of multiple drugs – as a significant condition that added to her death.
Father’s Reaction to Daveigh Chase’s Cause of Death
Schwallier, who now lives in the Philippines, spoke with multiple news outlets after learning the official cause of death. He admitted he had feared something like this might happen because of the life Chase had been living for many years.
“It is what it is,” Schwallier told The California Post. “It’s something you sometimes have to expect with the lifestyle she was living.”
When he finally saw his daughter’s body at the hospital, the actor’s father could barely recognize her. He told Daily Mail that she weighed around 65 pounds and looked terrible.
“I didn’t think it was my daughter,” Schwallier said. “She must’ve weighed 65 pounds and looked even worse than that video going around. I touched her thigh above her knee, and it was just bone.”
A Father’s Pain and Regret
Schwallier revealed that he had not seen his daughter in person since she was about six years old, though they stayed in touch through phone calls as she grew up.
“I had an empty feeling inside for not being with her for all these years,” he shared.
The father admitted that he had been searching for his daughter for 13 years but could not find her. “Where was the media then? It’s tragic,” he said.
Schwallier said he has since been speaking with Chase’s friends to learn more about the daughter he lost touch with.
Daveigh Chase’s Final Moments
Schwallier described the heartbreaking final conversation he had with his daughter. On the day of her death, June 16, he received a call from Roy Hernandez, a man who claimed to be her boyfriend.
Hernandez held the phone to Chase’s ear while she was going in and out of consciousness at the hospital. Schwallier told her he loved her and that he had been looking for her.
“I told her, ‘I have a place to take you if you make it out of the hospital,’” Schwallier recalled. “I said, ‘I’m on my way, I will be there in three or four hours.’ I made it to the hospital in about two and a half.”
But by the time he arrived, his daughter had already passed away. Schwallier said he left the hospital initially believing she had died from a blood infection and other problems.
Battle Over Daveigh Chase’s Remains
A dispute has emerged between Schwallier and his ex-wife, Cathy Chase, over the actress’s cremated remains. The remains went to the mother, and the father has said he is ready to take the matter to court if necessary.
“I will fight her for Daveigh’s remains in Probate Court,” Schwallier declared. “I want her remains because she belongs with me. [Chase’s mother Cathy] can keep half [of the ashes] if she wants, but that is my daughter.”
He claimed that Chase had been emancipated from her mother at age 16, which could affect who has rights to any remaining money from her acting work. Schwallier insisted the fight was not about money.
“This was my daughter, and I didn’t get to see my daughter for years because of her [mother],” he said.
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A Troubled Life Behind the Scenes
Daveigh Chase was a successful child actor who voiced Lilo in Disney’s Lilo & Stitch in 2002 and played the creepy Samara Morgan in The Ring the same year. She also voiced the main character in the English version of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away.
But behind the success, Chase struggled with addiction and homelessness for many years. Her father claimed she had been living as an addict on Los Angeles’ Skid Row for over ten years before her death.
Her mother, Cathy Chase, had previously revealed in a 2019 interview that Daveigh’s drug problems began after a motorcycle accident in 2016 left her with a back injury. She was prescribed painkillers for the injury.
“She was seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people,” Cathy Chase had said. “I never kicked my daughter out. She wanted freedom and these people got her hooked on some drugs.”
Chase’s manager and friends reportedly tried for years to get her off the streets and into rehab, but she refused their help.
Her manager of more than a decade, John Ryan Jr., told the BBC last week that she had died from sepsis after suffering from meningitis. He remembered Chase as “the greatest” and said she was not interested in fame or Hollywood parties.
“She was not very Hollywood,” Ryan recalled. “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.”
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