Details About Victoria Siegel, Queen Of Versailles Daughter Who Died Of An Overdose
She lived a secret life.
YouTube Florida billionaires Jackie and David Siegel are working to bring the opioid crisis to light after their 18-year-old daughter Victoria Siegel died of a drug overdose in 2015.
The Siegels starred in Queen of Versailles, a 2012 documentary that followed the family of 10 as it set out to build the biggest house in America. After Victoria's death, the construction came to an abrupt halt, never to be completed.
So who was Victoria Siegel and how are her parents honoring her memory?
Four years after the loss of their daughter, Jackie and David have published a book about Victoria's struggle with drugs and her heartbreaking passing titled Victoria’s Voice: Our Daughter’s Losing Battle with Drug Abuse. Their goal is to raise awareness of the opioid epidemic, which caused over 47,600 overdose deaths in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"I thought drug addicts lived under bridges and slept on park benches," David told ABC News in an emotional interview. "I had no idea that the more affluent the family is, the more chance you have of having a drug user in your family."
The book focuses on Victoria's life and details the life she was living behind closed doors. Looking back, David and Jackie wish they had seen the signs.
"If I had known what I know now, back then, she'd — like I said, she'd still be alive," David said.
1. She overdosed on antidepressants.
Victoria was found unresponsive and not breathing in her family's mansion on Seagull Island in Windermere, Fla., on June 6, The Orlando Sentinel reported. She died of “acute methadone and sertraline toxicity,” according to autopsy results. Methadone is used to treat pain and sertraline is better known as Zoloft, an antidepressant.
Her parents were in Utah when they received the call that their eldest daughter was dead.
"No parent ever wants to get a call like that," David told ABC News.
2. She was addicted to medications prescribed to her.
Victoria began taking the prescription medications for seizures, PEOPLE reported, but quickly became addicted.
“Unfortunately she became dependent and struggled with this condition,” Seigel family spokesperson Michael Marder told the publication in 2015. “She voluntarily underwent rehabilitation and was working hard to address this problem.”
3. She was bullied.
Victoria, a shy middle schooler when her family starred in "Queen of Versailles," was bullied as a result of the film.
"The bullying was very difficult on her," Jackie recalled to ABC News. "This is when she was actually going through that emotional turning into teenage years. People started picking on her. And I had a feeling that that's when [and] why she started experimenting with drugs, to say, 'Hey, I'm just like you.'"
David said it was "the beginning of the end for Victoria."
4. She led a secret life, which she chronicled in her diary.
After Victoria's death, her parents wanted answers and turned to her personal diary, which detailed her drug experimentation and the lonely road she took to addiction.
The pages contained emotions and struggles that Victoria's parents knew nothing about. Victoria had written about her fight with depression and the pills, like Xanax, Adderall, and Lorazepam, she took to escape her mind.
"[It] looks like she was obsessed with the pills," Jackie said. "She definitely was living a secret life — at least from us."
Although there were signs, Victoria's parents didn't see them.
“We never thought in a million years that she would be doing drugs,” Jackie said.
Just a month prior to her death, Victoria told her mother she was addicted to Xanax and entered rehab. She was there for a week but it didn't do much.
"Reading her diary has changed me," Jackie said to ABC News. "I guard this with my life."
5. It was Victoria's idea to publish her journal.
During her battle with drug addiction and depression, Victoria texted her friend a message, which was to be delivered to her mom in case of her death, according to ABC News.
"I just fell into a deep sleep, dreaming sweet dreams, and knowing how much you love me, and I'll always be with you. Take my journal in my nightstand drawer, the fat one I always use," the message read. "I've never shown anyone my journal. But there's no one else I would rather pass it on to than you. My business and now — is now everyone else's business. And I'm okay with that, Mom."
"Hey — maybe you can — publish my teenage journal and bump up your career ... If it worked out, I'd be so proud of you," the text continued. "Now, don't freak out. I'm only trying to let you know I am here for you, always have been and always will be."
6. Jackie Siegel has produced a movie about her daughter called Princess of Versailles.
The film is available on YouTube. Jackie and David Siegel have also published their daughter's diary and called it Victoria's Voice. They plan to produce a movie of her diary. Jackie also has a cameo in the film Shooting Heroin, which is set to be released this fall.
Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
Amy Lamare is a Los Angeles based freelance writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. She is deeply devoted to her chocolate Labrador and an avid long distance runner. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.