Authorities have shut down a major theory that surfaced after a Disney superfan tragically died by suicide.
As previously reported, 31-year-old Summer Equitz, a former Disneyland employee and lifelong Disney enthusiast from Naperville, Illinois, was found dead at Disney World’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday (October 14) night.
Equitz's lifeless body was discovered on the grounds of the resort, located just steps from the Magic Kingdom, with the Orange County Medical Examiner reporting she passed from “multiple blunt impact injuries".
Her death, which police have ruled an apparent suicide, marks the first such incident at the Contemporary Resort in several years.
Police Address A Major Theory
There is speculation online that Equitz was hit by a monorail, but local authorities have vehemently denied the rumors.
In a statement to PEOPLE, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) has said the young woman “was not struck by the monorail,” and added: “That is erroneous information."
Disney’s monorail service, one of the busiest in the world, runs directly through the Contemporary’s A-frame atrium. The system was briefly halted in both directions as officials responded to the scene.
A Trip Made in Secret
Equitz had been reported missing just hours before the incident. In a now-deleted Reddit thread, a family member said she had traveled to Florida without informing anyone. “She booked a flight there without telling us, unfortunately,” they wrote, per The Sun.
A devoted fan of Disney, Equitz once described Beauty and the Beast as her “favorite Disney show of all time” and said her dream role was to play Belle.
She shared her Disney love widely, posting photos from past visits and even posing with Disney CEO Bob Iger in April 2021, captioning the moment, “My life has peaked.”
Between 2012 and 2015, she worked at Disneyland in California as a character performer and entertainment host. More recently, she had taken on roles as a nanny and social media consultant.
Equitz had also recently celebrated personal milestones. She spent her honeymoon at Disney World in 2024 with her husband, Nico Danilovich, and announced her pregnancy later that year in December.
The Contemporary Resort is one of Disney’s most iconic properties, famed for its sleek architecture and monorail access. But it has also been the site of past tragedies.
“There’s this weird phenomenon where people who are severely depressed but want to have that one last good happy family memory will go to Walt Disney World,” Disney historian Jim Hill told the New York Post.
Following Equitz’s death, authorities have declined to release further details out of respect for the family. “We don’t release additional information in cases of suicide,” an OCSO spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly.
Our thoughts continue to be with her loved ones.
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