The mother of Mammoth and An Invisible Sign star Sophie Nyweide, 24, has exclusively revealed details of her daughter’s death in an interview with the Daily Mail – as new details emerge from her death certificate.
Police in Vermont confirmed they are not ruling out foul play after the actress, who starred in movies alongside James Franco, Russell Crowe, Michelle Williams and Jessica Alba as a child, was found lifeless on a riverbank at 5am in the morning.
Her mother, Shelly Gibson, told the Daily Mail that her daughter was with friends in her home town of Bennington, on April 14, when she passed.
In another tragic twist, Nyweide’s death certificate has revealed she was pregnant when she died.
It is yet to be confirmed how long she’d been carrying the baby.
While her cause of death is unconfirmed, Gibson, 63, said she suspected an accidental drug overdose.
‘I am aware she was using drugs. She had been for quite a while,’ the grieving mother said.
‘We had put her in many treatment centers. We don’t have the toxicology reports back yet.
‘But my expectation is that it will be a drug overdose.’
Bennington Police Department declined to give further details due to the ‘active investigation’.
The mother of Mammoth and An Invisible Sign star Sophie Nyweide told the Daily Mail she believed her daughter died of an accidental drug overdose – even though her cause of death is currently undetermined
At age eight, Nyweide played the daughter of Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal’s characters in the movie Mammoth
Shelly Gibson, told the Daily Mail that her daughter was with friends in her home town of Bennington, Vermont, just over a week ago when she passed
Nyweide’s body was found close to a high school in Bennington, near a makeshift lean-to home made from downed trees at about 4am in the morning.
Police have also revealed that a man was with the former actress when she died. He has been ‘cooperating with the investigation’ but has not been declared a person of interest in the case.
Her death certificate also revealed another harrowing detail: She was pregnant at the time of her death.
Gibson described her daughter as an open-hearted, adventurous and driven woman.
‘Her life was a lot more than just those few years of doing movies. She was an avid snowboarder. She grew up in the mountains and in the city,’ Gibson said.
‘She was a lovely, magical child. Everyone who met her saw it. She lived, in her short life, a life that most adults would have loved to live.
‘I couldn’t have asked for a better daughter,’ she added. ‘She was a beautiful girl. She should still be here.’
Nyweide was feted by The New York Times as having ‘a glowing future’ as an actress
In the 2010 film An Invisible Sign, which also starred Jessica Alba, Nyweide played a girl whose mother was dying of cancer
In an obituary for her daughter, Gibson asked for donations to sexual violence survivors charity RAINN
Other family members shared this sentiment in her online obituary, with one writing: ‘Sophie was a kind and trusting girl. Often this left her open to being taken advantage of by others.
‘She wrote and drew voraciously, and much of this art depicts the depth she had, and it also represents the pain she suffered.’
In the obituary for her daughter, Gibson asked for donations to sexual violence survivors charity RAINN.The mother said she had been aware of the charity for many years, and hinted at a possible traumatic event in Nyweide’s childhood – unrelated to her Hollywood career – that set the young girl on a troubled path.
‘She was clearly coping with something,’ said Gibson. ‘In sixth grade. I started noticing problems and got her into therapy.
‘I can’t speak of what really happened, or what I thought really happened,’ she added.
‘But RAINN is something I’ve supported for a very long time.
‘She did treatment centers until she was 18. Then she left and she was essentially on her own, not because of my choice, but because legally I couldn’t help her any more.
‘While Sophie was in treatment, I was able to get to know several of her treatment friends, and it made me feel compelled to support an organization that would help anyone who had to deal with any sort of abuse.
‘It was horrific as a mother to know that I couldn’t help my child.’
Gibson said her daughter Sophie was in and out of treatment centers until she was 18. Then she stopped because her mother legally couldn’t force her to stay since she was of age
Gibson, herself a former actress, described her daughter as being passionate about both acting and snowboarding from a very young age
Aged eight, Nyweide played the daughter of Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal’s characters in the movie Mammoth.
In the 2010 film An Invisible Sign, starring Jessica Alba, Nyweide starred as a girl whose mother was dying of cancer. For that performance, she was feted by the New York Times as having ‘a glowing future’ as an actress.
She also appeared alongside James Franco in the 2010 movie Shadows & Lies, and Russell Crowe in Noah, in 2014.
She competed in snowboarding competitions after she quit acting in junior high school
Gibson, herself a former actress, described her daughter as being passionate about both acting and snowboarding from a very young age.
‘I didn’t even want her to act when she was little,’ the mother told the Daily Mail. ‘I wanted her to grow up and go to drama school and make that choice when she was an adult. But I was sort of talked into it.
‘But I was glad I did because she really loved it.
‘Every moment on a set for her was joy. Then she wanted to quit in junior high school so she did.
‘In addition to demanding she act, she demanded to compete in snowboarding,’ Gibson added.
‘Her big brother was an avid snowboard competitor, and it drove her crazy that I wouldn’t let her compete until she got to the ripe old age of five.
‘She felt at three she could do it, because I taught her how to snowboard at two-and-a-half.
‘In true Sophie fashion, she started competing and went to Nationals every year, and grew up with the fresh mountain air hitting her face.’
Gibson said that, despite not being able to keep Nyweide in rehab once she was an adult, she continued to support her and the two stayed close.
‘We were very, very close. She was very forthcoming with me,’ Gibson said. ‘We spent a lot of time together. I tried in vain to help her. I went to all the proper channels to get her help.
‘She felt that she could handle anything on her own. Just wise beyond her years.’
