Finding answers. Two months after Alicia Witt‘s parents, Robert and Diane Witt, were unexpectedly discovered dead in their home, the cause of the tragedy has been revealed.
Us Weekly confirms that the pair succumbed to “probable cardiac dysrhythmia” due to the extreme cold weather. Death certificates were officially issued on Wednesday, February 23.
Authorities in Worcester, Massachusetts, previously determined there were no signs of trauma or foul play, while a local news station suspected hypothermia contributed to the couple’s passings.
The Walking Dead alum, 46, announced in December 2021 that a relative found Robert, 87, and Diane, 75, dead after performing a wellness check at their home.
“I reached out to a cousin who lives close to my parents to check on them. Sadly, the outcome was unimaginable,” the Dune star noted in her statement. “I ask for some privacy at this time to grieve and to wrap my head around this turn of events, and this surreal loss.”
According to reports, the residence was visited by the fire department to check on the home’s air quality, but firefighters found no evidence of carbon monoxide or other dangerous gases. Alicia’s cousin called the police for help after the actress grew concerned for her parents, whom she hadn’t heard from in “several days.”
Alicia broke her silence on the loss of her parents via Instagram in January, noting that “it still doesn’t feel real” that they’re no longer here. “It’s been a month since I got scared, not having heard back from them, and called to have them checked on, waiting, phone in hand, praying fervently that the next call would be from them, angry I’d gotten someone else involved,” she wrote. “Knowing as soon as I heard the detective’s voice on the other line that they were gone.”
The Twin Peaks alum continued: “I am deeply grateful for the gift of having been able to quietly travel to Worcester earlier this month for a beautiful service and burial, to mourn and to celebrate them in total privacy. … Thank you, also, to all those who have reached out with your memories about my parents. They were brilliant educators, deeply kind, curious, intuitive, wise, young at heart, funny — there will never be enough adjectives to describe them.”
Despite “some misconceptions rolling around” about what led to her mom and dad’s deaths, Alicia wanted to “honor their privacy” throughout the “delicate” situation. The actress called her parents “fiercely stubborn,” noting that they were “not penniless” but often refused the help of others.
“They were a united, intertwined, indivisible force, determined to do things their own way. Knowing they had each other — battling them the way I would have had to in order to do this truly felt like it would have destroyed them,” she added. “My heart is broken. And even if I could have had a crystal ball and looked into the future — if I could have said to them, ‘You are going to break my heart and the hearts of all who love you with a worst-case-scenario ending if you don’t let us help you’ — I still think they would have made the same choices.”
Shortly before losing her loved ones, the Two Weeks Notice star reflected on how her mother was involved in helping her get her big break. Alicia was discovered by a producer from That’s Incredible!
“The producer saw a photo of me reading in a magazine and got in touch and asked if I had anything I could do on the show. My mom had, at that point, taught me how to do a scene from Romeo and Juliet. I was 5,” she told The Boston Globe in September 2021. “Two years later, the casting director for Dune was searching for someone to play the role of Alia and [saw that clip]. It was serendipity.”
