Michelle Trachtenberg’s shocked neighbors are reflecting on the months leading up to her unexpected death at the age of 39.
The actress went into cardiac arrest and died in her Midtown West apartment Wednesday after having recently received a liver transplant.
Her official cause of death is not yet known, but it is not being investigated as suspicious.
“Michelle always seemed happy. I never noticed anything off about her at all,” Rafael Williams, who lived above Trachtenberg, told Us Weekly shortly after news broke.“I didn’t know her personally, but she always made a point to say hi in the elevator. [Her death is] shocking to me because she didn’t seem to have a problem in the world.”
Williams’ “hope” is that “her family is OK.”
Another one of Trachtenberg’s neighbors, Ariana Rodriguez, also gushed over the “Harriet the Spy” star, calling her a “great neighbor” who “wasn’t loud” and “smiled at everyone in the hallways.”
She added, “I’m so sad that I won’t be seeing her anymore in the building. She always said hi to me.”
Trachtenberg had seemingly lost weight, her hair had thinned and the whites of her eyes appeared yellow, but she insisted in January 2024 that she was “happy and healthy.”
Rodriguez also gave insight into the “Gossip Girl” star’s relationship with talent agent and producer Jay Cohen.
“I saw her with her boyfriend a few times, and they were always walking either hand-in-hand or with his arm around her,” she revealed.
Another one of Trachtenberg’s neighbors, Ariana Rodriguez, also gushed over Trachtenberg, calling her a “great neighbor” who “wasn’t loud” and “smiled at everyone in the hallways.”Matthew McDermott
However, Rodriguez noticed Trachtenberg had become “svelte” and looked “less and less like herself in the last few months,” which echoes what fans had been saying for at least a year.Michelle Trachtenberg/Instagram
