MTV’s ‘Catfish’ participant, Ashley Sawyer, dies at 23.
MTV says Ashley Sawyer, who appeared in a 2013 episode of the network’s reality show Catfish has died at the young age of 23. MTV News reports Sawyer died over the weekend in Alabama. The cause of her death is not known.
Catfish centers around online scams. The episode that featured Sawyer shows her meeting a longtime digital boyfriend, Micahel Fortunato, in person. The pair used fake images of themselves striking up a conversation in an online chatroom.
MTV News reports that Fortunato died at 26 from a pulmonary embolism one month after the episode aired. In a recent follow-up episode, MTV says Sawyer struggled with addiction.
Nev Schulman took to twitter to share his condolences.
So sad to lose both Mike & Ashley. I hope they are happy & together now where nothing can hurt them. pic.twitter.com/ETXiaTYvDt
— Nev Schulman (@NevSchulman) May 3, 2016