Daveigh Chase, Star of 'Lilo & Stitch' and 'The Ring,' Dead at 35

According to Kiolix Pulse data, the keyword daveigh chase is currently trending across 18 of the 27 Google Search countries tracked by Kiolix Pulse, with a combined global search interest exceeding 749,300 searches. The United States alone accounts for over 500,000 searches, followed by Canada and the United Kingdom at over 50,000 each, and Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, and Mexico at over 20,000 each — reflecting widespread attention across North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

Cause of Death

Daveigh Chase — the actress who voiced Lilo in Disney's animated film Lilo & Stitch and terrified audiences as Samara Morgan in the 2002 horror film The Ring — died on June 16, 2026, from complications related to meningitis. She was 35 years old.

Her boyfriend, Roy Hernandez, confirmed the news to TMZ, stating that Chase died from meningitis and an infection in her blood, which caused septic issues and ultimately led to her body shutting down. She had been hospitalized in Los Angeles earlier in the month due to malnutrition.

Chase's father also confirmed her death to the New York Times, revealing that she had been homeless and living in Los Angeles with her boyfriend. He told the newspaper that she had struggled with drugs since the age of 13. Hernandez had set up a GoFundMe page shortly before her death, writing that Chase had been diagnosed with meningitis and several serious blood infections and that her condition had become critical.

Career and Legacy

Daveigh Elizabeth Chase was born on July 24, 1990, in Las Vegas, Nevada, and raised in Albany, Oregon. She began her acting career at age seven, appearing in commercials, and landed the role of Lilo Pelekai in Lilo & Stitch the following year at age eight.

In 2002, Chase appeared in Gore Verbinski's horror film The Ring as Samara Morgan — the lank-haired girl in white who became one of the most iconic figures in modern horror cinema. She was just 12 years old at the time. The performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003, beating out nominees including Willem Dafoe and Daniel Day-Lewis.

That same year, Chase also provided the English-language voice of Chihiro in the American dub of Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. She voiced the lead character in PBS Kids' Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures and held a recurring role in HBO's Big Love from 2006 to 2011, playing young sociopath Rhonda Volmer. In 2009, she reprised the role of Samantha Darko in S. Darko, the sequel to Donnie Darko. Her last credited role came in the 2016 horror film Jack Goes Home, after which she largely withdrew from acting.

Awards

Chase received a Young Artist Award for her work on Lilo & Stitch, an Annie Award for outstanding voice acting in an animated feature production for the same film, and the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain for her performance in The Ring.

Global Search Trend Data

The table below shows Google Search interest by country for daveigh chase, as tracked by Kiolix Pulse.

Country	Google Trends Search Interest
🇺🇸 United States	500,000+
🇨🇦 Canada	50,000+
🇬🇧 United Kingdom	50,000+
🇦🇺 Australia	20,000+
🇧🇷 Brazil	20,000+
🇩🇪 Germany	20,000+
🇮🇹 Italy	20,000+
🇲🇽 Mexico	20,000+
🇦🇷 Argentina	10,000+
🇪🇸 Spain	10,000+
🇳🇱 Netherlands	10,000+
🇹🇷 Turkey	10,000+
🇫🇷 France	5,000+
🇮🇳 India	2,000+
🇮🇩 Indonesia	1,000+
🇿🇦 South Africa	1,000+
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	200+
🇻🇳 Vietnam	100+

Related search terms include daveigh chase cause of death, daveigh chase death, daveigh chase samara, daveigh chase the ring, lilo and stitch, meningitis, and sepsis. Searches in local languages were also recorded: o chamado (the Portuguese title of The Ring) in Brazil, la llamada in Spanish-speaking countries, halka and daveigh chase neden öldü in Turkey.

Trend Data

Live search trend data for this topic is available on Kiolix Pulse.

• Kiolix Pulse: https://pulse.kiolix.com
• Daveigh Chase trend detail: https://pulse.kiolix.com/ko/trend/daveigh%20chase

Sources

• https://www.tmz.com/2026/06/17/daveigh-chase-dead/
• https://variety.com/2026/film/obituaries-people-news/daveigh-chase-dead-lilo-actor-the-ring-1236784015/
• https://deadline.com/2026/06/daveigh-chase-dead-1236958364/
• https://www.legacy.com/legacy/notable-deaths/daveigh-chase
• https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/daveigh-chase-cause-of-death-updates-5545690/