Michelle Trachtenberg's Last Social Media Posts Are So Tragic Now

Fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Pete and Pete," "Harriet the Spy," and dozens of other beloved films and TV shows were shocked to hear of the sudden death of actor Michelle Trachtenberg at age 39. But some who saw her final Instagram posts were worried even before the worst happened.

Police told the Los Angeles Times that Trachtenberg's mother found her dead at her New York apartment on the morning of February 26, 2025. ABC News reported that the actress had recently undergone a liver transplant and had been experiencing complications, noting that her death was apparently of natural causes. Police said, quote, "Criminality is not suspected."

In the weeks leading up to her death, Trachtenberg posted several selfies in which she looked somewhat gaunt, leading to numerous comments about her appearance alongside speculation about whether she would join her "Buffy" castmates in the upcoming reboot.

While some of the comments on Michelle Trachtenberg's recent Instagram posts were quite unkind, as comments so often are, others expressed concern. One person commented on a January 26 post, "Please don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it!" Another wrote on a February 12 selfie, "You seem unwell. I wish you the best." At the time, none of the commenters were aware of Trachtenberg's liver condition, but comments posted after her death brought it up. One remarked, in response to several earlier comments about the color of Trachtenberg's eyes in that same February 12 post, "She had liver disease. That's why her eyes are yellow."

Other posts from Trachtenberg's account show she was clearly looking back to happier days in the earlier parts of her career. Her final post, on February 19, was a red-carpet photo from the premiere of the 2013 TV movie "Killing Kennedy." Along with the hashtag "throwback," she captioned it, "I wanted to look like naughty #tinkerbell." Sadly, one of the tragic details about Trachtenberg is that the actor found herself among the '00s teen show stars fans stopped hearing much from in the years following that appearance.

Another post, shared on February 15, was a photo from when Trachtenberg attended the 2011 School of American Ballet Winter Ball in New York. Again, with a "throwback" hashtag, she captioned that one, "A memory, a magical night in #newyork. I remember feeling like Cinderella! Wishing everyone an ethereal weekend." Other throwback posts included a 2020 photo from an Art of Elysium event in Los Angeles and a Valentine's Day post featuring a snapshot from her 2010 Complex Magazine photo shoot.

While she had an X account, Michelle Trachtenberg hadn't updated it since 2021, when she was promoting her Tubi true crime series "Meet, Marry, Murder." She was most active on Instagram, and the messages left there in the weeks before her death were far from the first time she got some online flak for her appearance. Almost exactly a year before, in January 2024, she responded to some unfavorable comments about her looks after she posted a selfie alongside fellow former child actor Alexa PenaVega, who has a sad history herself.

When a commenter said Trachtenberg looked sick and asked if she was okay, the actor replied, "Explain to me how I look sick. Did you lose a calendar and not realize I'm not 14. I'm 38. How sad for you to leave such a comment" (via Cosmopolitan). That didn't put an end to the speculation about Trachtenberg's health, though. A post the following day, showing off a new ombre hairstyle, also drew numerous comments about her appearance and well-being.

It's unclear just how long the actor was ill, but what does seem certain is that she was determined to keep it private, even in light of seemingly constant demands to go public with her condition. As one commenter noted on a February 8 post, "Michelle was clearly fighting a secret battle, I hope she knew how many of us loved and admired her."