Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst was battling high-functioning depression, her mother said days after her death by suicide.
Cheslie Kryst, 30, was found dead in New York on January 30.
“Cheslie led both a public and a private life. In her private life, she was dealing with high-functioning depression which she hid from everyone - including me, her closest confidant - until very shortly before her death,” April Simpkins said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
"Cheslie – to the world, you were a ball of sunshine wrapped in smiles. We talked, FaceTimed or texted one another all day, every day. You were more than a daughter - you were my very best friend."
The New York Times published several texts and statements Kryst had made since 2019 in which she addressed her own psychological health, work stress, pressure and the challenges of aging.
"Turning 30 feels like a cold reminder that I'm running out of time to matter in society's eyes -- and it's infuriating," she wrote in March in Allure magazine.
Read: Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst dies at 30, Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu pays tribute
Paying tribute to Kryst, Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu wrote on her Instagram Stories, "This is heartbreaking and unbelievable. You were always an inspiration to many. Rest in peace, Cheslie."
Kryst, who was crowned Miss USA in 2019 and had often spoken out about stress and mental health, was an attorney who sought to help reform America's justice system. She had posted on Instagram before her death. "May this day bring you rest and peace," she wrote.
Her mother was crowned Miss North Carolina in 2002, before Kryst herself hit the runways and was crowned Miss North Carolina and then Miss USA in 2019 when she was 28, the oldest contestant to win the pageant.
The same year, she came 10th in the Miss Universe pageant.
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