Celebrity2 min(s) read
Published 14:20 23 Dec 2021 GMT
The parents of Walking Dead actor Alicia Witt have been found dead in their Massachusetts home.
Police found the bodies of Robert Witt, 87, and Diane Witt, 75, on Monday night after the Dune star asked a relative to check up on them, Associated Press reports.
"After not hearing back from my parents for several days, I reached out to a cousin who lives close to my parents to check on them," Witt said in a statement, per People. "Sadly, the outcome was unimaginable. 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 the Worcester Telegram and Gazette, police were called to the home around 9:00PM on Monday night when a family member requested assistance checking on the elderly couple.
Once inside the home, officers found the pair already deceased. There were no obvious signs of trauma.
Although the cause of the couple's passing is a mystery, police say they are not treating the deaths as suspicious. Neighbors told authorities that the pair had been ill for some time and that they had switched to a space heater after experiencing trouble with their furnace. However, no evidence of noxious gas was found inside their home.
Witt is best known for starring in David Lynch's movie adaption of Dune (1984) and for her role in the television series The Walking Dead. She has also appeared in Twin Peaks (1990), Two Week's Notice (2002), Orange Is the New Black, Nashville, Friday Night Lights, and numerous Hallmark Christmas films.
The Nashville-based actor is also a musician and author. She has one brother, Ian Witt, with whom she was homeschooled by their mother Diane. Their father Robert was a science teacher at the local Burncoat Middle School.
Before her daughter rose to fame, Diane Witt was a celebrity in her own right thanks to her 10-foot long hair, which earned her a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. She wore her lengthy locks braided and piled on top of her head, and maintained them with the help of her husband and children.
Our thoughts go out to the Witt family and their friends.
