Former Miss Teen Universe Lotte van der Zee’s Instagram page has become a place for fans to share their condolences and sadness after her parents announced Friday afternoon that she died Wednesday, a day before her 20th birthday.
Van der Zee’s last three posts on her Instagram page were by her parents, Bert van der Zee and Eugeniek van het Hut. The last time the model posted an image herself was on Feb. 16, when she showed off Gymchamp workout gear from the Van der Valk Hotel in Enschede, Netherlands. She also shared a photo on Valentine’s Day, simply writing “Happy Vday” in the caption.
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Fans have used the comment sections to leave their condolences, many written in Dutch.
“Be a beautiful star in the sky. A lot of strength to the family and friends,” one fan wrote.
Others remarked about how young she was and sent their thoughts and prayers to her parents. More fans simply wrote “RIP” in the comments, along with broken heart emojis and crying emojis.
Back on Feb. 22, van der Zee’s parents announced she suffered a heart attack while the family was on a ski trip in Austria. On Friday, they announced her death.
“Our pearl, our everything passed away on Wednesday evening March 6th at 22:47. It is incredibly surreal that our dearly beloved Lotte is not around us anymore. Our hearts are truly broken,” they wrote, adding a broken heart emoji. “We would like to thank you all again for all the support and heartwarming messages.”
The comments section for Friday’s post was filled with even more heartbreaking messages.
“This is beyond sad, sorry for your loss of your beautiful daughter,” one fan wrote.
“R.i.p. [wish] the family all [strength] which would help to get through this bad times,” another fan wrote.
“RIP to a beautiful an talented girl. Prayers go out to her an her family,” added another.
Van der Zee won the Miss Teen Universe pageant in 2017. Organizers sent their condolences to the family in a statement on Instagram.
“Losing someone we loved is not easy, but knowing that we have been able to be part of her life, it hast been amazing journey, we now realize that we were blessed the your share your life and career with us,” the statement read. “[Van der Zee] Our deepest condolences to your family and friends.”
The cause for the heart attack remains a mystery. Van der Zee’s parents told the Dutch newspaper Limberger that their daughter went out with friends the night before her death and returned to their hotel feeling well. In the morning, she missed breakfast and continued to feel worse as the day went on. She was treated at a Munich hospital, where her parents decided to take her off life support this week.
“It started with her kidneys,” van het Hut said. “She was then put on kidney dialysis, which kept her alive. But when it became clear on Wednesday that it would not be okay, she was taken off the machine. Lotte has had to endure a lot over the past few days. We did not want any further suffering.”
Photo credit: Instagram/Lotte van der Zee
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