Julia Roberts' half-sister found dead in bathtub of apparent drug overdose weeks after angry Twitter posts

 

'Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She’s not even that good of an actress.' Nancy Motes, 37 sounded both angry and despondent in her social media posts in the weeks leading up to her death, with some harsh words for the 'Erin Brockovich' actress. Nancy Motes holds up a photo of herself with half-sister Julia Roberts and their mom Betty Lou. Motes, who last year told the Daily News about her rocky relationship with her superstar sibling, was found dead on Sunday.Julia Roberts'’ half-sister was found dead Sunday in a bathtub at a Los Angeles home where she had been pet-sitting, and authorities discovered evidence of drug use.Nancy Motes, 37, long struggled with being overweight, and had a rocky relationship with her Academy Award-winning sister, who canceled a scheduled appearance Monday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” due to the tragedy.Roberts also reportedly skipped an Academy Award luncheon on Monday where she was slated to promote her role in the Oscar-nominated movie “August: Osage County.”

The 'August: Osage County' actress canceled appearances in the wake of the tragedy.

Authorities were called to the Los Angeles home about 2 p.m. Sunday after Motes’ body was found by her fiancé John Dilbeck, a film and TV locations manager whom she was due to marry in May, a law enforcement source told the Daily News. The source added that investigators suspect a drug overdose, but that testing is needed to determine a cause of death.
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In the days leading up to Motes’ death, she sounded emotionally unstable and even despondent in posts on her Twitter account.

Motes spoke harshly about her half-sister in the weeks leading up to her death.

“(M)y own family has abandoned me,” Motes tweeted Jan. 22 under the handle @Dabbs76.
Motes worked as a dog walker, and had been pet-sitting for the tenant of the home where she was found dead, the law enforcement source said.
Craig Harvey, chief of coroner investigations for Los Angeles County, told The News that Motes “was found in a bathtub that contained water. There were prescription and nonprescription drugs found at the scene. The role the drugs may or may not have played is not yet known.”

Glen McCurtayne/Coleman-Rayner/Glen McCurtayne/Coleman-Rayner

The 37-year-old's body was found in a bathtub of the home of someone she was dog-sitting for.

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An autopsy was scheduled for Monday, but Harvey noted that additional toxicology tests would likely be needed to determine a cause of death.
The law enforcement source told The News that Motes did not leave a suicide note. “There was no evidence of foul play, no note, nothing like that,” the source said. “It’s too soon to say that it was a suicide.”

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Motes claimed that the 46-year-old Oscar winner once teased her about her weight.

Motes, a Georgia native, was the daughter of Roberts’ mother, Betty Lou, and stepfather, Michael Motes. “The family is both shocked and devastated,” the Roberts clan said in a statement.
In August, Motes gave an interview that detailed how she was estranged from her famous half-sister. Motes claimed that Roberts, 46, teased her about her weight
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Twitter

The 37-year-old derided her half-sibling's acting ability.

.“When I was in high school and she was an adult, she would just let me know that I was definitely overweight,” Motes said. “It just makes me feel incredibly hurt and very sad.”
She used decidedly harsher language in reference to Roberts in a tweet three weeks ago. “So my ‘sister’ said that with all her friends & fans she doesn’t need anymore love. Just so you all know ‘America’s Sweetheart’ is a BITCH!!’” she tweeted on Jan. 20, referring to Roberts’ star turn in the 2001 rom-com “America’s Sweethearts.”
“Do you want to be a fan of someone so cruel? She’s not even that good of an actress. Happy you totally F---ed with me?” she added in a subsequent missive.

Twitter

Motes claimed to be a calm person, despite her angry tweets

Two days later — and just seven minutes after tweeting about her family having abandoned her — she raged about her heartbreak in a cryptic tweet that was clearly aimed at someone close to her:
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“Hey Hag! Glad you f---ed with me yet? You’re going to LOVE what’s coming! FYI-You’re an awful, hate filled old pathetic excuse for a human.”

Twitter

The pet-sitter claimed that her family had abandoned her.

Last summer, around the time of her revealing interview, Motes made a surprising online attempt to reignite a relationship with her lesser known half-sibling, Eric Roberts, 57. “Hello brother! We must reconnect & get together sometime soon! Glad to hear from you! Hope all is well!” she tweeted at him.
Motes once weighed nearly 300 pounds before undergoing gastric bypass surgery in June 2010. She said she hoped her transformation would help to repair her fractured relationship with Julia 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,” she said.

Twitter

Motes said she was getting support from strangers, not her family.

In one of Motes’ last social media interactions, she chatted over Twitter with controversial “Teen Mom” Farrah Abraham.
“Hi Farrah! Super excited ur following me! I’ve been following your career since the beginning!” Motes tweeted the day before her body was found.