Former WCW champion Daffney Unger, 46, has been found dead following a desperate search by friends after she posted a disturbing Instagram live video while appearing to hold a pistol.
The wrestler, known as the Scream Queen, was found dead at her residence in Norcross, a small city northeast of Atlanta, on Thursday morning from an apparent suicide, according to close friend and fellow pro wrestler Lexie Fyfe.
‘She was found very early this morning,’ a tearful Fyfe told the New York Daily News.
Unger had posted a livestream video to Instagram on Wednesday night where she appeared distressed – leaving fans and friends terrified.
‘Do you guys not understand that I’m all alone? Do you not understand that?’ she said.
She later could be heard in the footage saying, ‘Remember, my brain goes to Boston.’
The disturbing footage sparked a desperate search for her whereabouts by friends and law enforcement.
Former WCW champion Daffney Unger, 46, was found on Thursday after a desperate search for her was sparked by a distressing live video she shared on Instagram 24-hours earlier.
Unger (left) went live on Instagram on Wednesday night and appeared to be suicidal, worrying friends and fans (right)
Friends said police were having difficulty locating her because she had recently moved.
Retired pro wrestler Mick Foley posted a tweet, asking people to help out if they knew where Unger was.
‘If anyone has a way of reaching Daffney Unger, or knows her address, please help out. She’s in a bad personal place and is threatening to harm herself. My phone call went straight to voicemail,’ Foley tweeted.
Sean Ross Sapp, the managing editor of popular wrestling website Fightful.com, later tweeted: ‘Her family have been reached, and have her current address. She’d moved in the past couple of weeks. Police have been dispatched.’
Aubrey Causey, an investigator for the Gwinnett County medical examiner, didn’t reveal the details of Unger’s death but said it likely happened on Wednesday night.
Foley wrote in a new tweet on Thursday: ‘I’m so very sorry to learn of Daffney’s passing. A terrible loss for her family, friends and wrestling. She was far ahead [of] her time in our business. #RIPDaffney’.
Fyfe posted: ‘This last act, I don’t want it to define her. She would always want people to reach out for help and to check in on those they’re worried about. We’re going to miss her.’
Sean Ross Sapp, managing editor of Fightful.com tweeted about the frantic search for Unger after she appeared suicidal on an Instagram live video on Wednesday night
PICTURED: Professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett, right, smashes a guitar over the head of wrestler Ric Flair in May 2000. Daffney Unger can be seen in the back with her WCW Cruiserweight title
Ex professional wrestler Mick Foley tweet his devastation after learning about fellow wrester Daffney Unger’s death, on Thursday
Close friend and fellow pro wrestler Lexie Fyfe posted a tribute to Unger on Thursday, whose real name was Shannon Spruill
Unger, whose real name is Shannon Claire Spruill, debuted in World Championship Wrestling in 1999, as she was known as David Flair’s girlfriend at the time, who is the son of the famous, former wrestling world champion Ric Flair.
She rose to fame after winning the WCW Cruiserweight title in May 2000 and later performed for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, at one point playing the role of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
‘I loved watching her perform. She was a born performer who was made for wrestling,’ Fyfe said.
Unger missed wrestling ‘immensely’, according to Fyfe, after retiring due to injuries in 2015.
‘She’ll be missed as a performer, too, not just as a friend, but mostly as a friend.’
‘We are so sad to have to announce the passing of Shannon Spruill aka Daffney Unger @screamqueendaff,’ Fyfe said in an Instagram post to her close friend on Thursday.
‘We are posting this at the request of her family. Please respect their privacy during this trying time. I will miss you my logical sister from another mister,’ Fyfe shared.
‘Rest in eternal peace my sweet, sweet, Angel friend. You were such an amazing, funny, loving, caring person, and I’ll never ever forget you. I love you always, @screamqueendaff,’ former pro wrestler Velvet Sky tweeted Thursday.
- If you or someone you know is suffering from suicidal thoughts, call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255