Photo: getty images
Get to know the girl behind the headlines.
By Jessica Sager — Written on Dec 01, 2020
The untimely passing of Paul Walker at age 40 sent the world reeling.
The low-key actor kept his life very private, but his death brought to light his relationship with longtime girlfriend Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell, who was 23 when he died in a car crash in 2013.
Five years later, in 2018, a documentary detailing Walker's life, called I Am Paul Walker, once again raised questions about who the love of Walker's life was.
Who is Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell?
Here's what we know about Paul Walker's girlfriend, whether or not she appeared in the documentary about his life, and where she is 7 years after his death.
She started dating Walker when she was 16.
When Walker was 33, he met Pilchard-Gosnell ... who was 16 at the time.
But like Aaliyah and R. Kelly — and Walker's ex Aubrianna Atwell who was also 16 when they met — Pilchard-Gosnell and Walker thought age was just a number. And he said his longtime love was the one.
She went to UC Santa Barbara.
While she could have ridden Walker's coattails for fame and quick cash after sparking a romance with him when she was just a teenager, Pilchard-Gosnell instead opted to enroll in college in her hometown of Santa Barbara, maintaining her own independence and interests.
She was close with Walker's daughter, Meadow.
Pilchard-Gosnell reportedly took on a stepmother role to Walker's daughter Meadow, who the late actor shared with Rebecca McBrain.
Pilchard-Gosnell and Meadow only had an eight-year age difference between them — and she reportedly broke the news of Walker's death to the teen.
Walker's close friend Jim Torp revealed at the time that Pilchard-Gosnell collapsed upon hearing the news, but pulled herself together to help Meadow.
"I believe she is the one who told Meadow about what happened, and when she found out she was hysterical and crying," Torp said.
"It was just so sad. I tried to do everything I could to help them. Paul's girlfriend then took Meadow and drove her home. I don't know if they drove to crash site. I just know they were in so much anguish."
Meadow posted a tribute to her late dad on the seventh anniversary of his death.
Walker's daughter, 22, took to Instagram to share a picture of her and her "best bud" in rememberance of him.
"A silly day to remember in sadness. today’s a celebration of the love and happiness you brought to the world. here’s a photo of my best bud & I napping," she captioned the photo.
Pilchard-Gosnell was Walker's type.
Pilchard-Gosnell was hardly ever spotted with makeup on, which is the kind of girl Walker says he loved. The actor once reportedly said, "I like low maintenance, natural, outdoor, shy girls."
Considering their frequent trips to the beach and hikes, Walker and Pilchard-Gosnell were a perfect match.
She relied on family to get past Walker's passing.
"Paul was a really good guy and Jasmine is broken up by this," Pilchard-Gosnell's uncle revealed at the time of his passing.
"I went to Thanksgiving with him, played golf with him. They had their ups and downs but they were together and looking to spend a bright future together..." he said. "This is horrible news and unexpected. Her mother is with her and she is comforting her."
She went to grief counseling after Walker's death.
In 2014, Daily Mail reported that Pilchard-Gosnell attended grief counseling to cope with the loss.
“You have to understand that she is still terribly wounded by Paul’s death and will be for a long time,” her father told the magazine. "Maybe one day she’ll be ready to talk about Paul but she’s not there yet."
The Mail reported that shortly after Walker's death, Pilchard-Gosnell made a Facebook post to detail her grief.
"Every day, in some small way, memories of you come our way. Though absent, you are ever near, still missed, still I will always love you. Rest in Peace. Love…" it reportedly read.
She did not make an appearance in the I Am Paul Walker documentary.
Strangely enough, although Pilchard-Gosnell appeared to be a big part of Walker's life before his death, she was not featured at all in his documentary, I Am Paul Walker, which focused on Walker's career and his humanitarian work.
But the late actor's personal life was definitely not absent from the film. It did include his daughter's birth and had plenty of interviews featuring his family and friends.
However, there are no interviews with Pilchard-Gosnell or with Walker's ex, Atwell. In fact, nothing about the late actor's romantic relationships was addressed in the documentary.
This caused speculation about whether or not this part of Walker's life was left out intentionally due to the fact that he was known for dating women who were underage, a fact that drew some controversy after his death.
And although Pilchard-Gosnell's absence from the documentary did raise some eyebrows, perhaps she just didn't want to appear in the film.
After all, Walker did say that his type was "low-maintenance."
Where is Jasmine Pilchard-Gosnell now?
Pilchard-Gosnell has kept an extremely low profile since the late actor's death.
Her only social media appears to be an unverified Facebook page, which hasn't posted anything since April 2018.
Jessica Sager is a writer and comic based in NYC.