Update!

Julia Roberts' Half-Sister Found Dead of Apparent Drug Overdose

Actress pulls out of attending Oscar luncheon in the wake of sibling Nancy Motes' passing

By Peter Gicas Feb 11, 2014 12:05 AMTags
Julia Roberts, Nancy MotesGetty Images, Splash News

A sad day indeed for the Roberts family.

Nancy Motes, the 37-year-old half-sister of Julia Roberts and Eric Roberts, has died of an apparent drug overdose.

"It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes... confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose," read a statement sent to E! News from Julia Roberts' rep. "There is no official report from the Coroner's office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated."

In the wake of the tragic news, Roberts, who is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her work in August: Osage County, has pulled out of today's Oscars luncheon to be with family, her rep told E! News.

According to the Daily Mail, Motes had worked as a production assistant on Glee, and was planning on marrying her fiancé, John Dilbeck, in May.

UPDATE: Lt. Fred Corral of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner told Us Weekly: "Nancy Motes was found dead at a residence in the bathroom yesterday, pronounced dead by the L.A. Fire Department at 2:12 p.m. yesterday. Not sure whose residence it was. She was found in a bathtub that had water in it. We're taking it as a suicide, not a drowning.

"She's being examined today. We are waiting for the doctor to provide his finding. There were prescription and non-prescription drugs found at the scene. Cannot tell you what those drugs were. The role the drugs may or may not have played is not yet known. The investigator at the scene listed at this point that he is going with suicide and we are waiting for the doctor to finish the examination. We haven't gotten anything yet."

(Originally published Feb. 10, 2014, at 12:19 p.m. PT)