Nancy Motes, the younger half sister of actors Julia and Eric Roberts, was found dead Sunday in her Los Angeles home of an apparent drug overdose, her family confirmed Monday.
Julia Roberts, an Academy Award winner who is nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in "August: Osage County," skipped Monday's Oscars luncheon to mourn with family members,
a representative told E! News.
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The New York Daily News reported that Roberts also canceled an appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to promote the movie.
"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," a statement from the Roberts family said. "There is no official report from the Coroner's office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated."
The New York Daily News reported that police responded to Motes' home after her fiancé John Dilbeck, a film and TV locations manager, found her body. A source said that testing needs to be done to determine cause of death.
Motes, 37, and Roberts had a rocky relationship. Motes spoke harshly of her older half sister on social media weeks before her death. Comments she made on Twitter appear to have been taken down Tuesday.
In a Jan. 19 tweet, the Daily News reported that Motes wrote: "So my 'sister' said with all of her friends & fans she doesn't need anymore love. Just so you all know 'America's Sweetheart' is a b****."
Another Jan. 19 tweet read: "Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She's not even that good of an actress. Happy you totally F****** with me?"
"(M)y own family has abandoned me," Motes tweeted on Jan. 22 using the handle @Dabbs76, according to the Daily News.
Motes weighed nearly 300 pounds before undergoing
gastric bypass surgery in June 2010, which is when she hoped to repair her relationship with Roberts.
"It's not going to be fixed overnight, nor do I think it's going to be fixed at this point by me just getting skinny," Motes said at the time.
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