Another tragedy has struck the Chapman family. Bonnie Chapman, the daughter of Duane “Dog” Chapman and Beth Chapman, mourned the loss of her 19-year-old friend, Elysia Bassett, who died unexpectedly on Friday.
Never expected I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends. One of my only friends, the one who really was there for me. I’m going to miss you Elysia, you always were an angel. Rest In Peace love. //t.co/pDpOpfirVc pic.twitter.com/2ZQHq9Vfcs
— Bonnie Chapman (@Bonniejoc) January 11, 2019
“Never expected I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends. One of my only friends, the one who really was there for me. I’m going to miss you Elysia, you always were an angel. Rest In Peace love,” Chapman, 20, captioned an Instagram photo on Friday evening.
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In the photo, Chapman and Bassett, who went by the nickname Lala, posed for a selfie with another friend.
Fans immediately offered their condolences to the Dog the Bounty Hunter daughter in the responses and comments. On Monday, Chapman shared a link to a GoFundMe campaign collecting donations to cover Bassett’s funeral expenses.
In the GoFundMe description, Bassett’s death was described as “unexpected.”
“Our family unexpectedly lost a bright, shining star on January 11th, 2019,” the page reads. “Elysia was full of life and brought happiness wherever she went. It’s obvious by the number of friends she’s made over the years that she was very much loved, and brought immense joy and laughter to our lives.”
At press time, the page had raised $2,100 of its $1,200 goal. The page description said that any extra money raised “will be donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Pueblo County (Colorado), which is an organization that was very close to Lala’s heart. She spent most of her youth either attending as a member or mentoring as a teen leader.”
In the midst of Bassett’s unexpected death, Chapman is helping her parents celebrate their new show, Dog’s Most Wanted, which is expected to premiere sometime this year on WGN America.
“So glad everyone got to hear the good news! What do you think about the new announcement?” Chapman tweeted Monday evening, asking her followers to be patient with her and that she’ll be “back to regularly posting soon.”
The new show will air as a 10-part series, according to Us Weekly, following Dog and Beth as they hunt down and apprehend criminals who have made it to the FBI, U.S. Marshals and States’ Most Wanted Fugitives lists.
Dog and Beth, who first gained fame on their A&E reality show Dog the Bounty Hunter from 2004 to 2012, returned to TV in 2017 for a special that followed Beth’s battle with throat cancer following her September 2017 diagnosis and surgery.
While Beth was initially diagnosed as cancer-free, the family was devastated in November 2018 to learn that doctors discovered her cancer had returned.
“She is not doing good,” Dog told TMZ after confirming news of the diagnosis. “I appreciate the question and please say a prayer.”
“We are all so devastated. We love our Mommy so much and thank you guys for being here,” the couple’s daughter, Lyssa Chapman, added. “We got such an amazing [outpouring] from our fans and we just really appreciate it… Poor daddy.”
Before Beth’s cancer returned, Bonnie Chapman took to Instagram to open up about the “hardships” 2017 brought her.
“My depression was at its all time high,” she said of her life after learning of her mom’s cancer diagnosis.
Over the holidays of 2018, Bonnie begged her Twitter followers to “Please stop coming to our house. Please stop sending us messages about cancer cures. We’d like to spend the holidays not thinking about cancer, thank you very much.”
Photo credit: Twitter / @bonniejoc
