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.
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.
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.”
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.
Shocked and saddened by the death of Ashley Sawyer. So sweet and kind. Thoughts and prayers go out to her family. ?? pic.twitter.com/fC6qG84gfC
— Max Joseph (@maxjoseph) May 2, 2016
Shocked and saddened by the death of Ashley Sawyer. So sweet and kind. Thoughts and prayers go out to her family. ?? pic.twitter.com/fC6qG84gfC
— Max Joseph (@maxjoseph) May 2, 2016
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.”