Melissa Gilbert criticized the “stage parents” of Daveigh Chase in light of the former child actor’s unfortunate passing on Monday.

In a heartfelt post on Instagram, Gilbert reflected on their time together more than two decades ago for an unreleased TV pilot, recalling Chase as “bubbly, sweet, and professional.”

“But there was an underlying force, a drive to perform… for her parents,” noted Gilbert, who is now 62.

The former “Little House on the Prairie” star observed that while some child actors, including herself, manage to grow up well-adjusted due to “solid and wise parenting,” others suffer as their caregivers lose focus on their true role.

“Upon reading about Daveigh’s death today, my heart is truly broken,” Gilbert wrote. “I definitely comprehend addiction, yet the circumstances surrounding this sweet girl’s death are far more complex.”

In a desperate plea, Gilbert told parents to only get their kids into the entertainment industry if “they are doing it for the right reasons.”

“To be sure it’s something the child really wants,” she continued. “To be sure that that child has a life outside of the industry that is thriving and full of friends and responsibilities and ‘normal’ things.”

Gilbert, whose post included a picture of Chase, concluded her message by telling stage parents to “memorize this sweet girl’s face and her story so that it never happens again.”

Chase died June 16 at age 35 after she was diagnosed with meningitis and several “serious” blood infections that turned her body septic, according to her boyfriend Roy Hernandez.

Her cause of death was revealed to be AIDS, with chronic polysubstance use — described as the use of more than one drug in a short period of time — listed as a contributing factor.

Chase had reportedly been living near Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row before her passing.

In the days leading up to her death, Hernandez had created a GoFundMe fundraiser to help the late actress “find comfort and peace.”

At the time of the campaign’s creation, Chase’s condition had “become critical,” with doctors telling Hernandez “she may not have much time left.”

Chase’s mom, Cathy Chase, was stunned and “devastated” over her daughter’s tragic death.

“I let out this guttural scream and I just was running,” she told the Daily Mail earlier this month. “And these weird sounds were coming out of me, these kind of, like, primeval sounds.”

Chase was best known for starring in the Disney film “Lilo & Stitch” and the horror movie “The Ring,” the latter of which earned her an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain.

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357). 

In an unsettling incident on Monday afternoon, a helicopter pilot reported nearly colliding with a massive remote-controlled airplane near John F. Kennedy International Airport. This alarming report marks the second aviation safety concern at JFK on the same day, as captured in the newly released air traffic control recordings.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the helicopter pilot navigating close to JFK relayed that a remote-control aircraft came unsettlingly close to their helicopter.

This unsettling encounter occurred just hours following another incident, where a JetBlue pilot reported a potential drone strike as the aircraft was making its approach to JFK for landing.

LiveATC obtained air traffic control audio documenting the helicopter pilot’s report of the near miss, which occurred above the northern area of Floyd Bennett Field.

When questioned if the object might have been a drone, the pilot clarified it was a significant model of a remote-controlled airplane, flying at an altitude of 500 feet.

JETBLUE FLIGHT REPORTS DRONE STRIKE DURING APPROACH TO NEW YORK AIRPORT: FAA

JFK air traffic control issued a warning to nearby pilots of an unauthorized unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operating in protected airspace, according to ATIS.guru, which collects live digital messages from airports around the world. 

According to the warning, a “red and white” remote-controlled airplane was spotted flying at roughly 4:05 p.m. local time.

It was observed at an altitude of 500 feet, placing it within the typical flight path of low-flying commercial aircraft approaching the airport, according to the ATIS warning.

The aircraft was reported about 1 mile from the Canarsie (CRI) navigation beacon, a key waypoint used by aircraft lining up to land at JFK.

The helicopter pilot also told controllers he saw “a couple other ones on the ground” that appeared to be preparing to take off from what he described as an RC flying area near Floyd Bennett Field.

Air traffic controllers told the pilot they would notify NYPD Aviation to investigate the report. 

Asked whether the aircraft had struck his helicopter, the pilot responded: “No, I just missed it, but I didn’t hit it or anything.”

Authorities have not indicated whether the helicopter encounter and the earlier reported drone strike involving the JetBlue flight are connected.

The FAA said it notified local authorities about the report.

Flying a remote-controlled aircraft or drone near a major airport is illegal and poses a serious safety risk to aircraft operating in the area, according to the agency. 

Earlier Monday morning, a JetBlue flight reported striking a drone at approximately 3,000 feet roughly 10 miles from JFK, the FAA said.

Air traffic control audio from that incident indicated the object appeared to strike the aircraft above the cockpit.

The flight landed safely, and a post-flight inspection did not reveal any damage to the aircraft, JetBlue said.

The FAA is investigating the reported JetBlue incident.

Cara Delevingne has candidly confessed that during the peak of her drug addiction, she experienced a near-fatal overdose. This difficult period coincided with the loss of several modeling opportunities due to her struggles.

At 33, the supermodel has been open about her addiction battles, which eventually pushed her to enroll in a 12-step program. This decision came after troubling images surfaced, showing her visibly unkempt and anxious at the Van Nuys airport.

Cara has now disclosed that an overdose led her to the hospital, where she was administered naloxone, having unknowingly consumed what she believed to be opiates mixed with cocaine.

She also revisited the distressing aftermath of images capturing her in a bedraggled state as she left the Burning Man Festival. Cara revealed that shortly before those photos were taken, she had suffered a seizure triggered by the drugs she ingested during the event.

Discussing the damaging impact of her addiction on her professional life, Cara remarked, ‘It’s definitely not a positive image. In modeling, one is expected to uphold certain brand standards, as clearly outlined in the contracts we sign.’

‘It went super quiet. Everyone went very silent. And I knew I needed to get sober, so I medically was weaned off GBL [gamma-butyrolactone], which probably is the hardest one to come off. 

‘But I couldn’t do it at home. I couldn’t deal because the more sober I got, the more I realised how badly I f***ed up, and that just was too much.’

Speaking on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Cara added: ‘So, I couldn’t stay sober, and then I overdosed because I think there was opiates in the cocaine I think I’d bought or something. 

‘So I was narcanned [given a dose of naloxone, which reverses the impacts of opioid overdose], was in hospital, and that’s really when everything happened because when I woke up.’

Louis explained: ‘For people who don’t know, it’s the kind of quick fix, knocks the fentanyl off your neuroreceptors. You’re revived almost in the middle of overdosing.’

Cara then added: ‘Yeah. It’s heavy. I was being held down by men to a thing, and I didn’t know what was happening. It was horrible,’ sharing that it was her girlfriend who called the police and ambulance following her overdose.

She added that when she woke up from the overdose, she ‘wanted to die,’ as she struggled with withdrawal symptoms.

‘What you’ve just put people you love through, and you see the pain in their face. The shame. Oh, that makes me want to cry, and it’s horrible,’ she said.

‘It’s hard to forgive yourself for that. That was one of the most painful things that’s happened to me, so doing that to someone else is really rough.’

Cara went on to speak about the ‘rock bottom’ of the snaps taken of her in 2022 leaving Burning Man in Los Angeles.

At the time, she was seen looking jittery outside Van Nuys airport. At one point, she walked around only in her socks and held a conversation on the phone while smoking. 

She said: ‘Dishevelled. Yeah, mentally unwell for sure, not lack of sleep. I’d just had a seizure. I was not sober, for sure.

‘I was taking a lot of drugs, there was a certain amount of time we had to leave, and I always overpack for Burning Man. 

‘I was just carrying loads of suitcases, and my body just couldn’t take it, and I had a seizure. Which again, never seen myself have a seizure, but I’ve had a bunch.’

Describing the seizure as ‘drug-induced,’ Cara explained: ‘Got home, desperately trying to find more drugs because I hadn’t slept. Maybe found some drugs at the house, did them, went to the airport, got out without shoes. 

‘I had so much stuff in my hair, after Burning Man, I hadn’t showered probably, so there’s just sand. Hair looks crazy. 

‘You can just see it in the eyes. I look absolutely wild and feral and not well, and I’m just smoking a cigarette, wearing a Free Britney T-shirt or something.’

Louis asked whether the images sparked the beginning of her ‘recovery journey,’ and Cara replied: ‘Yeah, for sure because people saw it. It was everywhere. I lost jobs. That sucked. People were really worried. That sucked. I got so many messages. It was horrible.’

Cara has previously shared that one of her biggest problems was with ketamine after she started experimenting with drugs at the age of 14.

Opening up on the latest episode of Call Her Daddy with Alex Cooper, Cara detailed her troubled teenage years and battle with substance abuse.

The singer said: ‘Because I didn’t have money at that point, I started buying drugs to sell them and to do them.

‘When I bought the drugs to sell, I just did them all by myself. Not all of them. I sold half of them, did the rest.

‘So I basically did the drugs for free. Wasn’t a great drug dealer.’

The actress added: ‘I loved what drugs made me feel. I loved not having to think about my mum.

‘I loved not having to feel the pressure of not being good at school, not feeling good enough or loving myself. All of that went away.’

Cara said it was the moment her drug use escalated that she began taking acid ‘every day’ and suffered terrifying hallucinations.

She recalled: ‘I thought that my dad was God and my mum was the devil and I had to kill her to save the end of the world. Like, I lost my mind.’

Cara said her mental health deteriorated so badly she had a breakdown at 15 years old.

She explained: ‘I just became suicidal. My whole world exploded and I was like, “I think everything I’ve thought for the last 15 years is wrong”.

‘My brain was absolutely in turmoil. I would just try and knock myself out physically because I wanted to escape.’

While talking to Variety last year in May, Cara opened up about being sober and stated, ‘You’re not alone.’

She then encouraged, ‘If I can do it, anyone can. But you need to communicate and be honest about it as much as you can – especially with yourself.

‘I think that’s what I’ve always done with anything in this business. Whether it’s been being vocal about anxiety, depression, recovery, anything, it’s just you owe it to people to talk about your struggles…

‘Because being in this world is not perfect. No one is perfect. So to be honest, it’s the least I can do.’

And during an interview with Vogue, Cara was candid about her decision to check into the 12-step program in 2022.

‘Before I was always into the quick fix of healing, going to a weeklong retreat or to a course for trauma, say, and that helped for a minute, but it didn’t ever really get to the nitty-gritty, the deeper stuff.’

The model explained, ‘This time I realized that 12-step treatment was the best thing, and it was about not being ashamed of that.

‘The community made a huge difference. The opposite of addiction is connection, and I really found that in 12-step.’

The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.

If you have been affected by this story, call FRANK on 0300 123 6600.