Kaylee Hottle, the young actress best known for playing Jia in Legendary's MonsterVerse films, has died at the age of 18. Her father, Joshua Hottle, confirmed she was killed in a car accident in Maryland on Tuesday morning, with authorities initially reporting a serious crash before later telling him her heart had stopped en route to hospital. Her death cuts short a promising young career and has prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans of the franchise.

Joshua Hottle shared the news in an emotional social media livestream delivered in American Sign Language, explaining he was travelling from Texas to Maryland after learning of his daughter's death. Kaylee was born into a multigenerational deaf family and was fluent in ASL; she began her career in commercials before landing her breakout role in 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong, playing Jia, a young girl living on Skull Island under the care of Dr Ilene Andrews, portrayed by Rebecca Hall.