Actress Skye McCole Bartusiak, best known for her portrayal of Mel Gibson's youngest daughter in The Patriot, passed away at the age of 21 on Saturday night.
According to Variety, the cause of death is unknown at the moment, but reports say that she died in her sleep inside her Texas home.
"We lost our girl," Helen McCole Bartusiak, Skye's mother, told CNN. "She was a kind and really beautiful girl."
Her body was found in her bed by Skye's boyfriend. Her garage apartment was adjacent to her parent's house in Houston. "We think she had a seizure and choked and nobody was there," Helen said. Despite her mother's attempts to try to resection her daughter, she and the parademics could not return Skye's heartbeat.
"I've done CPR on that kid more than one time and it just didn't work this time," Helen said.
Skye was also known for her performances in movies like The Cider House Rules and Don't Say a Word. She also appeared on shows like Lost, House M.D. and 24. Her last performance was in the 2012 low budget thriller Sick Boy, where she played the lead.
Although known for her television and film performances, Bartusiak was also beginning to establish a career behind the camera, with the actress producing and directing in addition to starring in several short films. Her mother revealed that Bartusiak was beginning to set up her feature directorial debut, which she was also going to produce, before her untimely passing.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com