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‘Catfish’ Subject Ashley Sawyer Dead at 23

Ashley Sawyer, who appeared on season 2 of MTV’s Catfish in 2013, has died. She was 23.

According to TVLine, Sawyer passed away in Alabama over the weekend. A cause of death has not yet been released.

Ashley Sawyer
Sawyer on Catfish

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Sawyer’s episode of Catfish was a memorable one, because she was both the catfisher and the catfished. She and her online crush, Michael Fortunato, had been exchanging altered images of themselves for seven years.

Related: PHOTOS: Reality TV's Breakout Stars

After their face-to-face meeting on the show, they kept in touch. Tragically, Fortunato died of a pulmonary embolism just one month after their episode aired. He was 26. Sawyer told MTV at the time that they were “very much in love” before his death and were “definitely moving forward.”

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Catfish hosts Nev Schulman and Max Joseph paid tribute to Sawyer on Monday, May 2, tweeting their condolences with screenshots of her from the show.

The network released a statement as well: “MTV is deeply saddened to learn that Ashley Sawyer has passed away. Our condolences, thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.”

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