Famous Instagram influencer Niece Waidhofer – who often used her platform to raise awareness for mental health advocacy – has died by suicide, we have learned.
Waidhofer, who has also had a modeling career, was found at her Houston home last month, police said Thursday, after a family member requested a welfare check on the star.
She was 31 years old.
The family told TMZ on Monday that the influencer – who rose to fame in 2015 after starting the popular “Roast Me” trend on Reddit – took her own life following mental health issues.
Famous Instagram influencer Niece Waidhofer – who often used her platform to raise awareness for mental health advocacy – has died by suicide, we have learned
The family told TMZ on Monday that the influencer – who rose to fame in 2015 after starting the popular “Roast Me” trend on Reddit – took her own life following mental health issues.
“Sadly, Niece took her own life after a long battle with mental health issues,” a relative told the outlet.
They added: “She was very open with her supporters about her struggles, even wanting to help supporters who also suffered.”
Early last month, Waidhofer – who had amassed 4.2 million followers on Instagram, where she regularly posted reels and other content – cleaned her social media of nearly all of her photos and videos, leaving just three messages behind it.
The move raised concerns from her fans, with rumors circulating as early as last month that she had taken her own life.
His family said they would start a mental health awareness nonprofit in memory of Waidhofer, which would work to donate grants for mental illness research.
However, relatives said the late star had more than just mental health issues – saying she was proud to have written all of her Instagram posts herself and taken the majority of her photos and videos without a professional photographer.
‘ The niece was more than her struggles,” her family told the outlet. “She was beautiful and kind, sensitive and funny, creative and talented, generous and compassionate, thoughtful and nurturing.”
“Although it is so painful to say goodbye, we are reassured to know that she is reunited with her father, her three grandparents, her Uncle Rusty and her beloved Puff; and that she is now free to be herself and, finally, at peace.
