Sahara Ray’s autopsy has been completed, but authorities have yet to officially determine her cause of death. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office has deferred its findings on the 34-year-old model pending toxicology results.
According to TMZ, the office has also authorized the release of her body following the examination, as reported on Friday, October 23. The update comes after several days of reports surrounding Ray’s final hospitalization, including an unnamed insider’s claim that she overdosed on fentanyl on October 16 and was taken to a Los Angeles hospital, where she was placed on life support.
Her family reportedly made the decision to withdraw life support on October 18, with relatives confirming her death the following day. In their statement, they said she “passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital,” adding, “She was so loved.” Her cause of death was not immediately revealed.
TMZ has also covered claims made by Ray’s former roommate, Chloe Spence, in a restraining order petition filed in 2024. Spence accused Ray of taking Xanax without a prescription and repeatedly being in an “intoxicated delusional state.”
She further alleged that Ray charged at her, grabbed her face, and dug her nails into the skin around her eyebrow.
The allegations stem from a dispute that occurred two years before Ray’s death and do not establish the circumstances surrounding her passing. According to sources who spoke to TMZ, the two women had since reconciled, and Spence was reportedly at the hospital alongside Ray’s family when she died.
Ray had also previously spoken publicly about a serious health crisis that left her unable to walk. In May 2024, she revealed that a drunk driver traveling at approximately 80 miles per hour had crashed into her vehicle. She later disclosed that she had been diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, a condition in which the immune system attacks the nerves.
“Right now I’m paralyzed from the tops of my upper thighs all the way down to my feet. I can’t walk at all,” she said in a TikTok video. No connection between the condition and her death has been established.
The daughter of Australian surfer Tony Ray, Sahara launched her swimwear brand, Sahara Ray Swim, in 2014 after studying at Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
She was linked to Cody Simpson in 2015 and was photographed vacationing with Justin Bieber in Hawaii the following year. However, she never publicly confirmed either relationship.
In 2023, Ray was photographed kissing Mod Sun following his split from Avril Lavigne. The pair later attended an Ashton Michael fashion show together that November.
Ray became a mother in January, welcoming her daughter, Snow. Her final Instagram post, shared on July 19, featured photos of her baby girl alongside the brief caption: “My whole heart baby Snow.”
