Key points
Stewart McLean’s friend Jeff Seymour said he “knew there was big trouble” several days before the Virgin River star was found dead at 45.
Seymour was suspicious because McLean didn’t show up to a scheduled day of filming: “He was meticulous about everything.”
Police announced that McLean’s case was being treated as a homicide investigation on May 21.
Stewart McLean was found dead on Friday — and one of his friends suspected something was wrong several days prior.
Jeff Seymour, an acting coach and actor who said he became “fast friends” with the late Virgin River actor eight years ago, said that McLean missed a scheduled day of filming last week, which was extremely out of character for the performer.
“He was meticulous about everything and there would be no chance he blew it off or slept too late,” Seymour told The Canadian Press on Friday. “As soon as I heard he didn’t make it on Saturday morning, I knew there was big trouble.”
Stewart McLean in ‘Virgin River’
Credit: Netflix
McLean was reported missing on May 18, three days after he was last seen at his home in Lions Bay, British Columbia. The Squamish Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were “very concerned for Stewart’s health and well-being” before subsequently announcing that his case was being treated as a homicide investigation on May 21.
Canada’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team then announced that McLean’s remains had been located in Lions Bay on May 22, according to PEOPLE.
Stewart McLean
Credit: RCMP
In his interview with The Canadian Press, Seymour said that McLean, who played a barfly in a season 7 ep of Virgin River, visited him in Los Angeles last month.
“It was really a wonderful week, and then I heard this, and it’s just, it’s so hard to comprehend when something like this happens,” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. He was incredibly situationally aware.”
Seymour added that he doesn’t understand how his late friend could have been murdered. “For the life of me, I don’t know how anybody could get the drop on Stew,” he said.
The acting coach said that the full weight of his friend’s death has yet to sink in. “It’s so crushing, and it hits me in ways I’ll suddenly think, ah, Stu, and I realize I can’t call him now,” Seymour said. “Everybody loved this guy, it wasn’t like he was in nefarious activities or, you know, kind of ran with another crowd. I mean, he was a bit of a loner. He spent a lot of time reading and being at his home out there in Squamish.”
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Seymour said that McLean’s death is a “shocker,” adding, “I would love to see justice served.”
In addition to his turn on Virgin River, McLean also appeared on episodes of several CW shows, including Arrow, Supernatural, and The 100.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly