Lea Michele has made a heartbreaking visit to the memorial that has been set up outside the Vancouver hotel where Cory Monteith died.
Hiding behind sunglasses and surrounded by five bodyguards, the 26-year-old reportedly looked “crushed” during her first public outing since losing her boyfriend to a drug overdose.
The “Glee” star had been dating her 31-year-old co-star for more than a year before he died suddenly from an overdose of heroin and alcohol at a Vancouver hotel last Saturday.
“I saw Lea about an hour after the family saw the body at the hospital,” eyewitness Rik Feydick tells RadarOnline.
“There were two huge SUVs out front and Lea was in the back seat of one, sitting between two bodyguards. She was wearing her signature huge black shades.”
The eyewitness revealed Lea visited Cory’s makeshift memorial outside the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel for five to seven minutes.
“Lea never got out of the vehicle. I saw her in the backseat,” he told. “[She looked] crushed.”
While Lea is yet to publicly speak out following Cory’s death, a representative has released a statement on her behalf.
“Lea is deeply grateful for all the love and support she’s received from family, friends, and fans,” the spokesperson told People magazine.
“Since Cory’s passing, Lea has been grieving alongside his family and making appropriate arrangements with them. They are supporting each other as they endure this profound loss together. We continue to ask the media to respect the privacy of Lea and Cory’s family.”
This story originally appeared on Herald Sun.