Ashley Sawyer, who was featured on the MTV series Catfish, may have died of a drug overdose, police say.
According to the Associated Press, authorities in Alabama responded to a call about a woman in medical distress on Saturday, April 30. Sawyer, 23, died later that day. Hoover Police Lt. Charles McDonald believes that Sawyer's death might have been drug-related.
"We are investigating, but early indicators are this was possibly related to a drug overdose, possibly heroin," McDonald told the AP, noting that an official cause of death won't be confirmed until toxicology tests are complete.
Sawyer appeared on Catfish in season 2 in 2013. During her episode, she told cohost Nev Schulman about her weight struggles and finally met her online crush, Michael Fortunato, in person. (Fortunato passed away at age 26 of a pulmonary embolism that same year.) In a recent Catfish catch-up special, Sawyer said that she was staying in a sober-living facility.
Sawyer's sister Jessica Ross opened up about her sibling's passing on Monday. "We had a great relationship. I know she knows how much I loved her and she loved me, and I am so sad that she’s gone. She was so funny, she could make me laugh on my absolute worst day," Ross told MTV News. "She was just a really fun person to be around."
Ross noted that Sawyer had been living in Alabama alone and working at Panera at the time of her death. Additionally, her sister recently completed a recovery program.
