Child star Sophie Nyweide was pregnant when found dead at 24 as death investigation continues
Authorities have revealed the heartbreaking discovery they made after finding the body of a former child star.
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Actress Sophie Nyweide was pregnant at the time of her death at age 24, The US Sun can confirm.
The young star, who has starred in films such as Mammoth with Michelle Williams and An Invisible Sign with Jessica Alba, was found dead on a riverbank in her native Vermont on April 14.
The death certificate obtained by The US Sun stated Nyweide was “pregnant at the time of death”.
A representative for the Vermont Department of Health confirmed to the outlet: “This individual was pregnant at the time of death.”
Nyweide was found in the woods behind a local high school in Bennington, Vermont, according to the document.
She was declared dead at 4.53am, and her cause of death is currently under investigation.
According to her mother Shelly Gibson, cops have not ruled out foul play, though she claimed her daughter was “using drugs”.
According to a document from the Bennington Police Department obtained by The US Sun, the incident is being investigated as a “possible unintentional overdose”.
Nyweide was cremated, the certificate indicated, and the star will be mourned at a funeral home in Burlington on a date not yet determined.
In the weeks leading up to her death, Nyweide posted pictures of herself enjoying nature on social media.
Nyweide, who wasn’t working at the time of her death, was best known for her acting roles as a child.
She was just six when she starred in the titular role of her first movie Bella.
The actress went on to play Michelle Williams’ daughter in the 2009 drama Mammoth.
She appeared in seven films all before her eleventh birthday, including the 2010 rom-com An Invisible Sign with Jessica Alba.
An online obituary shared by her family remembered her as “creative, athletic and wise beyond her years”.
The child star grew up spending time in Vermont and New York City.
She started snowboarding at the age of five to emulate her older brother, Huck, her family said.
Tributes pouring in under Nyweide’s online obituary remember her time in school as a friendly girl who loved snowboarding and art.
Her mum is a former actress who owned a movie theatre, which is where Nyweide developed a love of film.
“She dreamed (more like demanded!) to be an actor, without ever knowing her mother was an actor, so she did that too with an ease we all marvelled about,” the obituary said.
“She seemed happiest on a movie set, becoming someone else.”
Gibson has opened up about her daughter’s death since the tragedy and said Nyweide was “self-medicating” to cope with trauma.
In her obituary, her family wrote that Nyweide’s kindness led to her “being taken advantage of others.”
“She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered,” the obit said.
“Many of her writings and artwork are roadmaps of her struggles and traumas.”
The family has asked that instead of flowers, people make donations to RAINN, an organisation working to fight sexual violence, in Nyweide’s name.
This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Child star Sophie Nyweide was pregnant when found dead at 24 as death investigation continues
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