Troubled "16 and Pregnant" star Jordan Cashmyer was found dead in Maryland on Sunday aged 26. Cashmyer, who appeared on the reality show in 2014, had struggle with addiction, had previously attempted suicide. Cashmyer's death comes just months after the passing of her fiancé Michael Frank Schaffer, 30, with whom she shared a six-month-old daughter.
News of Cashmyer's death was shared by her stepmother, Jessica Cashmyer, through a post written on the Facebook account of the Dennis M. Cashmyer Jr., her husband and Jordan's father. Although a medical examiner her confirmed her death, the exact cause of her death is still unclear.
Gone too Soon
Her father, Dennis M. Cashmyer Jr. also confirmed his daughter's death on Sunday via a Facebook post. He shared a black and white photo of his daughter, writing, "Last night I received a call no parent ever wants."
"Our hearts are truly broken. No parent should ever have to go through losing a child, EVER."
"My oldest beloved daughter, Jordan has passed away, she was only 26 years old. "Please keep my family in your thoughts prayers as we navigate through this terrible tragedy," Jessica added. "Please understand and respect our privacy at this time. We are surrounded by the love and support of our children, grand daughter [sic] Lyla and family members," Jessica Cashmyer wrote on Facebook.
MTV paid tribute to Cashmyer via a Twitter post that read: "We are deeply saddened to learn about the passing of Jordan Cashmyer. Our hearts go out to her family and friends during this difficult time."
Cashmyer featured in a 2014 episode of MTV's "16 and Pregnant," alongside her family and then-boyfriend Derek Taylor. Cashmyer's segment documented her struggles with securing employment and experiencing homelessness as a pregnant woman after being disowned by her family, as her parents did not approve of her relationship with Taylor.
Troubled Past
Jordan's struggles continued even after she gave birth to daughter Evie, as she later signed over custody rights on a temporary basis to Taylor's mother back in 2015, according to Variety.
Not only was Cashmyer a teen mother but also had a troubled childhood. She had earlier admitted herself to a rehab facility in June 2016 at age 21 after she injured herself in a drunken stupor. She was struggling with addiction for a long time and had also attempted suicide.
It is not known if her death was finally suicide and if substance abuse had to play a role in it.
A source told TMZ that during the drunken stupor insider for the gossip site claimed that the incident - which left her with a concussion and black eye -made the reality star realize it was time to "get her life together."
It is believed that Cashmyer was having problems in her personal life. In November of that year, she shared a post to her official Facebook page that "there wasn't much of a reason to live anymore," according to Radar.com.
"I have been struggling with a lot of different things emotionally since I had Genevieve," she wrote. "I was diagnosed with post partum depression and was on medication for a little while for it, but I never followed up with my appointment... My mood wouldn't stay stable for very long, I was extremely impulsive, couldn't focus, the smallest things would set me off, and my anxiety got worse, as did my depression and OCD," she had written.
Cashmyer celebrated one-year of sobriety last January, and welcomed her second daughter Lyla with Schaffer last June.
