The owner of the salon Anne Heche visited prior to her tragic death has spoken out about the "huge remorse" he is currently feeling.
As reported by TMZ, Richard Heche was one of the last people to see the 53-year-old a actor prior to her devastating car crash in Los Angeles on August 5. The Volcano star paid a visit to Richard Glass' Venice-based salon, Glass Hair, where the pair even posed for a photo together.
Glass would later post the image on his business' Instagram feed, captioning the sweet snap: "So I met @anneheche today and she purchased a #redwig so random.. I love #venicebeach."
However, after visiting the salon, the car that Heche was driving crashed at speed into a home in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles. The collision resulted in a fierce fire breaking out, which took 59 firefighters over an hour to extinguish.
Heche was transported to the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills (California) Hospital and Medical Center, but sadly died after suffering from burns and a severe anoxic brain injury.
Now, Glass has spoken to TMZ about the guilt he is feeling after becoming one of the last people to see Heche alive.
Describing the last weeks since the tragic crash as "timing and taxing", Glass said: "I feel a huge remorse, I feel like I could have done something more."
"Like, the universe sent her here for me to impact in some kind of way... and I just feel like I didn't do everything that I was supposed to," he told TMZ. "Like, to keep her here. Like, to protect her. You know? And I'm just... I'm extremely emotional about it, because it's just wearing on my heart."
"This woman, she needed help, and I wasn't there," he added.
Glass also spoke candidly about the comments he has received from people accusing him of supplying Heche with drugs prior to the crash.
As reported by the LA Times, a "law enforcement source told The Times that the initial blood test also showed that Heche had cocaine in her system after the crash".
However, Glass maintains that he had no involvement with any drugs.
"There are people who are nice, and there are people who are just... evil," he said. "Making accusations that I had something to do with [what] her toxicology said. It's just... it's just a lot. They're saying that she could have got the cocaine or the fentanyl from me - because I was the last person to see her."
"I've never done any type of drugs. I don't do that, I'm not that person," Glass maintained.
Heche was pronounced "legally dead according to California law" on August 12. Her body was later taken off life support on August 14 after her organs were able to be matched and donated.
Our thoughts continue to go out to anybody affected by this tragedy.
