Learning of Michelle Trachtenberg’s death at just 39 years old was so jarring that it took me a solid hour to understand the reality of it. Not only was she gone far too soon, and far too quickly, but she’d been a presence in my life for so long that I just couldn’t accept her sudden absence.

On screen, the star of Buffy, Gossip Girl, and Eurotrip, who died at 39, was full of life and meltingly vulnerable.

Trachtenberg’s death at 39 is not being treated as suspicious and police said a medical examiner will determine the cause of her death.

Michelle Trachtenberg’s neighbors couldn’t help but notice something was different about the actress in the months leading up to her tragic passing. The Gossip Girl alum, who was found dead in her Midtown West apartment on Wednesday,