Kaylee Hottle, a deaf actor best known for her starring role in two Godzilla films, has died in a car crash in Maryland. She was 18.

Hottle was one of two passengers in the car when it went off the road and hit a culvert in Ijamsville.

The driver was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and the other passenger declined medical treatment, according to the sheriff’s office.

Excessive speed is believed to be a factor in the crash, which is under investigation.

Hottle was a native signer of American Sign Language, and her family members are also deaf. Her parents, Joshua and Ketsi Hottle, shared emotional video statements about her death on social media sites.

“Kaylee’s mum and four siblings are crushed,” her father said in a post. “They are together at home, grieving. I am on my way to Maryland to bring Kaylee’s body back home.”

Hottle’s heart stopped before she arrived at a hospital, transported by air from the scene of the accident, her father said.

“Very grateful for the 18 years we had together – and wish we had more,” he said.

Joshua Hottle also contacted the driver, described by the sheriff’s office as a 19-year-old Frederick man.

“I have forgiven you,” he said. “Don’t let this incident ruin the rest of your life.”

In Godzilla vs. Kong and the sequel, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Hottle played an orphaned girl named Jia who sees beyond Kong’s threatening appearance and forms a special bond with the monster, communicating with him using sign language.

“I’m so devastated to hear this. You will be deeply missed Kaylee,” her Godzilla co-star Millie Bobby Brown posted on Instagram.

In a 2024 interview with The Associated Press, Hottle said through an interpreter that she hadn’t watched monster movies before she was cast in Godzilla, so her father helped her understand the genre.

“I look up to a lot of people, but the one person I look up to, the few people I look up to mostly, are my parents and my sisters,” Hottle signed.

Hottle previously appeared in a 2021 television episode of Magnum P.I. She was listed as appearing in the upcoming film What Doesn’t Kill Us.

Other prominent deaf actors also shared messages of grief online.

“I am absolutely gutted about the passing of sweet Kaylee Hottle. May her beauty and talent be a memory for eternity,” Oscar winner Marlee Matlin wrote on Instagram.

Fellow Oscar winner Troy Kotsur, who starred in the film Coda, said Hottle’s death made him think of his own daughter, and reminded him not to take time for granted.

“I have no words to express on what happened this morning,” Kotsur wrote, offering his “deepest condolences” to the Hottle family.

Officials with Texas School for the Deaf in Austin also announced Hottle’s death on Facebook. They said counselling and support services would be available to her classmates and friends.

“Please keep Kaylee’s loved ones in your thoughts as we mourn this tremendous loss together,” the school wrote.

-with AAP