Six months after her tragic death at the age of 43, the cause of actress Lindsey Pearlman’s death has been revealed.
An autopsy by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner found that Pearlman committed suicide through sodium nitrite toxicity on February 18.
“The presence of non-toxic levels of lorazepam, metoclopramide, and codeine” was discovered in Pearlman’s system, the report concluded.
Pearlman, a Chicago native who appeared on “General Hospital,” “Chicago Justice,” and “Empire,” had been reported missing on February 13. Four days later, her cousin Savannah Pearlman tweeted that Lindsey Pearlman’s phone was last pinged on Sunset Blvd.
Pearlman was found dead in a vehicle by the entrance of Runyon Canyon Park in Hollywood, People reported. Her husband, Vance Smith, wrote on Instagram, “The police found Lindsey. She’s gone. I’m broken.”
Pearlman’s neighbor, Chrissy McKay, who saw her roughly a week before her death, said, “She seemed really tired and usually she was very peppy.”
After Pearlman’s death, her friend and fellow actress Danielle Pinnock tweeted, “I met the most talented people ever in the Chi. We all moved to LA together in hopes of pursuing our dreams. Our community lost Lindsey Pearlman. She was hilarious, goofy AF, stunning, and ridiculously gifted. Just talked to her two weeks ago. It feels surreal that she is gone.”
I met the most talented people ever in the Chi. We all moved to LA together in hopes of pursuing our dreams. Our community lost Lindsey Pearlman. She was hilarious, goofy AF, stunning, and ridiculously gifted. Just talked to her two weeks ago. It feels surreal that she is gone.
— Danielle Pinnock (@bodycourage) February 19, 2022
Actress Lynn Chen echoed, “This is how I will remember Lindsey Pearlman. Effortlessly beautiful and talented. Hilarious. Compassionate. Unapologetic. She lit up every room. She listened intently on stage and off. She so loved animals. I am sorry to her family and all the communities who deeply adored her.”
This is how I will remember Lindsey Pearlman. Effortlessly beautiful and talented. Hilarious. Compassionate. Unapologetic. She lit up every room. She listened intently on stage and off. She so loved animals. I am sorry to her family and all the communities who deeply adored her. pic.twitter.com/iypa3ChBB5
— Lynn Chen 陳凌 (@MsLynnChen) February 19, 2022
Fatal sodium nitrite poisonings have risen in number in recent years; sodium nitrite is normally used for curing meat. In July, Neuroscience News reported that Ontario, Canada, had “seen at least 28 sodium nitrite poisoning deaths between 1980 and 2020, with most happening in the last two years of that period.”
“Across the U.S. poison centers are receiving frightening numbers of reports on self-poisoning with nitrites and nitrates,” the Missouri Poison Center noted. “In 2021, they have seen a 166 percent increase in fatalities in comparison to 2018.”
The Missouri Poison Center also pointed out that the use of sodium nitrite as a means of suicide had been popularized in online suicide forums, which offer information on how to obtain it and step-by-step instructions for its use to commit suicide.