{"id":223242,"date":"2026-02-16T21:03:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:03:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/dove-cameron-details-murder-of-childhood-friend-lasting-trauma\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T21:03:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T21:03:30","slug":"dove-cameron-details-murder-of-childhood-friend-lasting-trauma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/dove-cameron-details-murder-of-childhood-friend-lasting-trauma\/","title":{"rendered":"Dove Cameron Details Murder of Childhood Friend, Lasting Trauma"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Trauma leaves its mark. Childhood trauma most of all.<\/p>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2022\/05\/dove-cameron-pours-her-heart-out-in-thought-provoking-essay-on-i\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Dove Cameron<\/a> was just a little girl, her friend was murdered.<\/p>\n<p>This terrible tragedy should never have happened. And Dove should <em>never <\/em>have found out the way that she did.<\/p>\n<p>This horror has left a lingering mark upon her psyche for life.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Dove Cameron on Call Her Daddy\" class=\"wp-image-548521 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-728x410.png 728w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-1080x608.png 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_01.png\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">An emotional Dove Cameron details trauma and loss on \u2018Call Her Daddy\u2019 in February 2026.<span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Image Credit: YouTube)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-a-vicious-crime-and-a-trauma-that-will-always-follow-her\">A vicious crime and a trauma that will always follow her<\/h2>\n<p>During a recent episode of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vqga3tuNMho\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Call Her Daddy<\/em> podcast<\/a>, Dove opened up about a life-altering childhood trauma.<\/p>\n<p>When she was 9 years old, her childhood friend, Hayley, died.<\/p>\n<p>Hayley\u2019s father, Steve, killed both of his daughters and himself.<\/p>\n<p>Both girls grew up in Bainbridge Island, Washington.<\/p>\n<p>Dove had known Hayley from the time when both girls were only 2 years old. Losing a friend of 7 years would be a horror for anyone, but for a 9-year-old, it\u2019s essentially her entire life.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dove Cameron: Toxic Patterns, Engagement, &amp; Entering 30&#039;s\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vqga3tuNMho?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cSome little girls they meet each other, and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh, that\u2019s like you, and it\u2019s funny,&#8217;\u201d Dove recalled of their childhood similarities.<\/p>\n<p>Growing emotional multiple times during the interview, the actress and singer admitted that she \u201crarely talks about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Dove clarified: \u201cNot because it\u2019s a problem to talk about, but just like it\u2019s so not the first thing that people usually ask me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She remembers Hayley\u2019s parents going through a \u201cmessy\u201d divorce. The girls still hung out, but even as a child, she could tell that something was wrong.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had stayed with her dad for like quite a lot of the summer before [the murder] happened,\u201d Dove described. \u201cAnd I think even at 8, it was like a dark energy. He was a very angry man.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Dove Cameron on Call Her Daddy\" class=\"wp-image-548522\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-728x410.png 728w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1080x608.png 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Dove Cameron on Call Her Daddy\" class=\"wp-image-548522 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-728x410.png 728w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1080x608.png 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_03.png\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u2018Call Her Daddy\u2019 features a chat with Dove Cameron.<span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Image Credit: YouTube)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-she-wasn-t-supposed-to-learn-about-the-murder-this-way\">She wasn\u2019t supposed to learn about the murder this way<\/h2>\n<p>Dove was home sick from school as a third grader and picked up the landline phone, overhearing a call that her parents received from Hayley\u2019s school\u2019s principal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe basically said like, \u2018This is going to be a really, really disturbing call. Hayley and [her sister] Kelsey are gone. Steve is gone, and he took the girls with him,&#8217;\u201d Dove recalled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they heard me like express some sort of child noise, like a gasp,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n<p>Dove continued: \u201cAnd then I they came in and and we just like didn\u2019t get out of bed for two days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She acknowledged: \u201cIt was so impossible to process.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DUD6eRUgJhy\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\"\/>\n<p>At the time, Dove\u2019s parents tried putting her in therapy to cope with the trauma of her friend\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was very very very very very disturbed by knowing someone for all that time and being like raised around them,\u201d she described.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd,\u201d Dove continued, \u201cthen realizing that they are capable of doing something so harrowing,\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She characterized the trauma of losing her friend by saying that it had \u201cfissured\u201d her brain, forever altering how she processes things.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI still have issues,\u201d Dove acknowledged.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Dove Cameron speaks in an animated manner\" class=\"wp-image-548523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-728x410.png 728w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1080x608.png 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\"\/><\/noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1024x576.png\" alt=\"Dove Cameron speaks in an animated manner\" class=\"wp-image-548523 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-728x410.png 728w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-960x540.png 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1080x608.png 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02-1200x675.png 1200w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/02\/0216_dovecameron_02.png\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">During a thoughtful discussion, Dove Cameron delves into how objectification comes from the viewer \u2014 not from the actor.<span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Image Credit: YouTube)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-happened\">What happened?<\/h2>\n<p>On November 22, 2004, Steve Byrne murdered his daughters, Kelsey and Hayley.<\/p>\n<p>Police found both girls in their bed without an immediately apparent cause of death. Their killer had taken his own life with a gun.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest motives for family annihilators is a sudden loss of control. Children growing up and changing, a divorce, losing a job. Sometimes, there is an element of revenge against a survivor \u2014 like an ex-wife.<\/p>\n<p>According to Byrne\u2019s attorney, he believed that the legal system was unfair to fathers. He was also apparently furious about his ex-wife\u2019s move following their acrimonious divorce.<\/p>\n<p>There is a depth of evil in people that most never suspect until it springs to the surface. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async defer src=\"https:\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/02\/dove-cameron-murder-childhood-friend\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 3 minutes Trauma leaves its mark. Childhood trauma most of all. When Dove Cameron was just a little girl, her friend was murdered. This terrible tragedy should never have happened. And Dove should never have found out the way that she did. This horror has left a lingering mark upon her psyche for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":223244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-223242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hollywood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}