Mindy McCready was found dead in Heber Springs, Ark., on Sunday night, her brother confirms to the NY Daily News. She was 37.
A source tells E! News that neighbors reportedly heard gunshots at McCready’s house and called the police. “She shot herself and the dog,” the insider adds.
No other details have been released on her death, but the Daily News is reporting that it was an apparent suicide. NBC’s TODAY reports, “The cause of death ‘appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound,’ the Cleburne County (Ark.) Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.”
According to TMZ, McCready attempted to take her own life twice before, once in 2005 and again in 2008. She also made several trips to rehab and appeared on the VH1 reality show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew” in 2010.
The troubled star had been struggling following the sudden death of her boyfriend, 34-year-old David Wilson, on Jan. 13, 2013. Although she claimed she had nothing to do with Wilson’s passing, McCready’s two children Zander, 6, and her son with Wilson, Zayne, 9 months, were taken by authorities on Feb. 6 after family members claimed she was unfit to care for them. She decided to enter an in-patient facility for treatment.
“Since boyfriend (David Wilson) shot himself she has been in bed for 3 wks,” her father said in court documents earlier this month. “Sleeps all day. Drinks all night and is taking Rx drugs. Not bathing or even helping take care of her 2 children.”
But just a day after being ordered by a judge to enter a facility for a mental-health and alcohol-abuse evaluation, McCready was released to undergo outpatient treatment instead, according to E! News.
In her final interview before her death,McCready talked about Wilson, telling NBC’s Andrea Canning last month, “I have never gone through anything this painful. He didn’t just touch my heart, he touched my soul. He was my soulmate.”