Actress Michelle Trachtenberg’s haunting final posts before death

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg kept her serious health issues private – but they were all too visible to worried fans who followed her updates.

Actress Michelle Trachtenberg looked visibly unwell in what would be the last candid selfie posted to her Instagram account, just two weeks before she was found dead at the age of 39.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl actress Trachtenberg was found by her mother at One Columbus Place, a 51-story luxury apartment complex in Manhattan, on Wednesday morning local time.

Emergency services workers later arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.

The New York Post reports that Trachtenberg underwent a liver transplant in recent weeks, and may have been experiencing complications from the surgery.

The actress regularly posted photos of herself to social media, but attracted attention in recent months as her followers expressed concern at her appearance.

Fans flooded her comment section to voice their worry, saying the star looked “sick” – which prompted an angry reaction from her.

The final selfie she posted to Insta, on February 13.

“Explain to me how I look sick,” she responded to one comment last year.

“Did you lose a calendar and not realise I’m not 14. I’m 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment.”

The following day, she posted another selfie with a message to those voicing their opinions about her appearance.

“I’ve received several comments recently about my appearance. I have never had plastic surgery I am happy and healthy,” she wrote. “Check yourself haters.”

Trachtenberg is believed to have died from natural causes, and her death is not being treated as suspicious. A coroner will now attempt to determine her exact cause of death.

Trachtenberg on a 2017 red carpet … Picture: Getty

… and an Instagram post in recent weeks.

Born in 1985, Trachtenberg got her start as a young actress in multiple Nickelodeon productions in the mid-1990s. Her breakthrough role came as Dawn Summers, younger sister of Buffy, in the cult classic TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Further roles followed in TV shows like Gossip Girl and Six Feet Under and films like EuroTrip and Mysterious Skin.

Her final on-screen appearance was as the lead actress in an independent movie called Spyral, released last year.

Trachtenberg’s former co-stars are today paying tribute to the actress.

The star played Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Trachtenberg shared this photo on January 27.

Buffy co-star David Boreanaz wrote that the news of her death was “so very sad … horrible news. RIP and prayers to her and her family.”

Another former Buffy actor, James Marsters, penned a moving tribute to her that he shared on social media.

“We have lost a beautiful soul. Michelle was fiercely intelligent, howlingly funny, and a very talented person. She died much too young, and leaves behind scores of people who knew and loved her,” he wrote.

“My heart goes out to her family who are good people, and are suffering the greatest loss anyone could bear. I hope everyone can give them space to heal in this most difficult time. Godspeed Michelle. You are missed.”

And actress Rosie O’Donnell, who co-starred in the 1996 children’s film Harriet the Spy with Trachtenberg told Us Weekly, “Heartbreaking. I loved her very much. She struggled the last few years. I wish I could have helped.”

Trachtenberg’s death comes weeks after news that a long-awaited Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot is in the works, with original cast members including Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar. There was no word yet on whether Trachtenberg was involved in the new production.

Originally published as Actress Michelle Trachtenberg’s haunting final posts before death