PERU – A Brooklyn actress committed suicide during a modeling trip to Peru, authorities said on Thursday.
Lisa Lynn Masters was found dead inside her room at the Nuevo Mundo hotel in Lima shortly before midnight on Tuesday, Peru 21 reports.
Employees at the hotel had found the 52-year-old actress dead inside the room’s closet, official said, after she’d hanged herself with her skirt.
Authorities said she had been struggling with depression.
They said had found anti-depressants, Diazepam and two letters which revealed her mental health issues in her hotel room.
Masters starred in an episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt last year and has also had roles on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Ugly Betty and Gossip Girl.
Her friends have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to bring Masters’ body home to the United States, funeral expenses and to help her husband William Brooks, who works as a healing arts practitioner in Brooklyn.
The page, set up by Ani Mason on his behalf, reached the $30,000 goal in a day.
‘Our dear friend Lisa Masters passed away tragically and unexpectedly,’ Mason wrote in a post on the page.
‘Lisa’s genuine warmth, generosity and tenacious strength will be deeply missed.’
Mason added: ‘Lisa’s beloved husband William is shocked and grieving her sudden loss.
‘In the midst of this mourning, William faces daunting financial challenges, including the substantial funeral and transport expenses for Lisa in and between Peru and the United States.’
Masters’ agent Christopher D Silveri confirmed her death and said: ‘As to her husband and family’s wishes, we hope that the industry can morn her death without details.
‘In these darkening days, we hope those who have had the pleasure of knowing her will see how brightly she shined and will find that light within themselves and continue to share it with others – just as she would have.’
