Drew Barrymore’s half-sister was found dead of an apparent pill-popping suicide near San Diego on Tuesday, witnesses and official said.
Cops discovered Jessica Barrymore’s lifeless body in the driver’s seat of her car in National City, California, KGTV reported.
Marta Lopez was leaving for work Tuesday morning when she noticed her driveway near Hoover and 9th streets was blocked by a car, she told the ABC affiliate.
“You need help, you need help?” Lopez said she asked the prone motorist. The woman inside, later identified as the 47-year-old Barrymore, didn’t respond or appear to be breathing.
She was reclined in the driver’s seat with a can of SoBe energy drink between her legs and dozens of white pills scattered on the passenger’s seat, according to Lopez, who then called cops.
The San Diego Medical Examiner’s Office identified the woman as Jessica Barrymore, whose date of birth is July 31, 1966, matching that of Drew Barrymore’s half-sister.
Jessica and Drew Barrymore share the same father, the late actor John Drew Barrymore. Jessica’s mom is John Barrymore’s third wife, Nina Wayne.
Jessica Barrymore posted a cryptic quote on her Facebook page on Monday from the spiritual Mystera magazine: “Life doesn’t always introduce you to the people you WANT to meet.”
“Sometimes, #life puts you in touch with the people you NEED to meet to Help You, to Hurt You, to Guide You, to Leave You, to Love You, and to gradually Strengthen You into the Person You Were Meant to Become.”
Neighborhood resident Oscar Sandoval said he spotted Barrymore in her car, blocking Lopez’s driveway, hours before she was found.
“Her car was parked right here last night around midnight,” said Sandoval. “I thought she was sleeping or waiting for someone.”
Sandoval said he was saddened to know that the woman’s final hours were spent alone in a car.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s sad to see that.”
Jessica Barrymore’s sad passing is reminiscent of the death of Nancy Motes, the half-sister of “Pretty Woman” actress Julia Roberts. Motes committed suicide earlier this year in California.