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Championship bodybuilder Hayley McNeff died from a drug overdose back in August, according to a newly publicized review by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
The 37-year-old’s death has been listed as accidental. Now, postmortem results show McNeff had a number of drugs in her system, including heroin, fentanyl and cocaine, as well as other banned substances associated with the narcotics.
Growing up, McNeff was active in many sports - including skiing and diving - while becoming an accomplished equestrian, according to an obituary posted to Boston.com.
McNeff rose to prominence in the body building world in the 2000s - winning several titles, including the 2009 East Coast Classic. She continued competing into the 2010s and was featured in a bodybuilding documentary released in 2016 titled 'Raising The Bar'.
In that film, she discussed her career, saying, 'The quest for getting huge will never end. There's no limit. I hope there's a day that I'll be able to look in the mirror 100 percent of the time and be like "yeah man, I'm huge."'
She graduated from UMass Amherst and discovered bodybuilding as an adult. After her career ended, she intended to pursue a graduate degree in psychology.
McNeff won multiple titles across her career and was featured in a bodybuilding documentary
Massachusetts-born bodybuilder Hayley McNeff passed away at the age of 37 in August
McNeff is the seventh bodybuilder to have died in the past nine months in a disturbing trend
McNeff is just the latest bodybuilder to die prematurely.
In late July, Spanish bodybuilding star Lorena Blanco died at age 37 of a suspected heart attack while she was preparing to travel to Las Vegas to compete at Ms. Olympia.
A month prior, Colombian bodybuilder Zunilda Hoyos Mendez was killed in a horrific hammer attack in Spain at age 43 after telling her husband she wanted a divorce. Her husband, Jarrod Gelling, was also found dead with knife wounds that police believe was a suicide.
In May, a pair of Brazilian weightlifters died within a week of each other. On May 6, 30-year-old bodybuilding champion Gui Bull died due to asphyxiation. Just days later, another 30-year-old - Wanderson da Silva Moreira - passed away while competing in the Pantanal bodybuilding championship.
In April, male bodybuilder and actor Vito Pirbazari died at age 44 from a heart attack after collapsing on a treadmill.
