Influencer and model Niece Waidhofer, who had often worked to help her followers through their mental health struggles, has died by suicide, news organisation TMZ confirmed on Wednesday.
Speaking to TMZ, Niece’s family said, “Sadly, Niece took her own life after a long battle with mental health issues.”
Also read: World Blood Donor Day: 5 health benefits of blood donation
Niece was 31 years old when she died in Houston, Texas.
According to her family, “She was very open with her followers about her struggles, even wanting to help followers who also suffered.”
Also read: Who was Cooper Noriega, TikToker who posted about dying hours before death?
It is reported that a non-profit called “Peace from Niece” will be established in her honour, and the organisation will benefit mental health awareness and provide grants for mental illness research.
Niece’s family says she took pride in the fact she wrote all of her Instagram posts herself, and shot the majority of her photos without a professional photographer.
Also read: ‘Psychedelics and MDMA’: Musk’s solution to the US mental health crisis
As for the circumstances surrounding her death, TMZ, quoting the law enforcement sources as saying and said that they got a call from a concerned family member last month to check on Niece at her Houston-area residence … and that’s when she was discovered.
Fans of Waidhofer became concerned when she wiped her account of almost all of her photos … She left only 3 posts. Turns out she did that in the weeks leading up to her death.
Also read: Texas school shooter’s violent history: ‘He was scary’
Her family adds, “Niece was more than her struggles. She was beautiful and kind, sensitive and funny, creative and talented, generous and compassionate, thoughtful and challenging. While it is so very painful to say goodbye, we take comfort knowing 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.”
