LOS ANGELES — The woman whose Mar Vista home caught fire after Anne Heche crashed her car into it on Aug. 5 has spoken out about the actor's death.
Lynne Mishele — who had been renting and living in the house on Walgrove Avenue with her three pets — posted an Instagram video on Friday "sending love to everybody involved" in the accident. Heche was in a coma this week and died at age 53 on Friday after suffering severe burns and brain damage, as well as a major injury that required her to be put on mechanical ventilation.
"The news of an Anne Heche passing is devastating," Mishele said in her Instagram statement. "Her family and her friends and her children especially really have suffered a great loss, and my heart goes out for them. This entire situation is tragic, and there really are just no words."
Following the crash, the owners of the Mar Vista residence launched a GoFundMe campaign for Mishele that has received more than $170,000 in donations. Homeowners Jenny and John said in the fundraiser description that Mishele and her pets "very narrowly escaped physical harm" and that the vast majority of her belongings were destroyed along with the house in the blaze.
"I'm still recovering and trying to figure out up from down, but I did want to send a huge, huge thank you to everybody from all over the world for the overwhelming amount of love and compassion and generosity and kindness that the people have shown over the past week," Mishele said in another Instagram video posted on Thursday.
"It's obviously been the most insane, traumatic time ... Eventually I'll try to get back to everybody and read everybody's comments, but ... thank you, everybody, from the bottom of my heart. It's really, truly overwhelming. You guys have really impacted my life in a very profound way."
Mishele joins those close to Heche who remarked on her death this week. Others paying tribute include Heche's eldest son, Homer Laffoon; her ex-husband, Coleman "Coley" Laffoon; and two of her former partners, James Tupper and Ellen DeGeneres.
"Love you forever," actor Tupper wrote on Instagram.
"This is a sad day," tweeted comedian DeGeneres, whose groundbreaking romance with Heche in the late 1990s challenged homophobia in Hollywood. "I'm sending Anne's children, family and friends all of my love."
According to NBC News, the LAPD has concluded its investigation of the crash that killed Heche as of Saturday morning.
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