What happened to Disney fan found dead after vanishing from Illinois home?

Authorities say a 31-year-old woman from Illinois was discovered dead in a suspected suicide at the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida, just hours after being reported missing from her house. Summer Equitz, a devoted Disney fan, was the victim and traveled to the resort alone just prior to her death.

The death that occurred on October 14, 2025, was confirmed as an apparent suicide by the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Officials did dismiss early online speculation that the victim had been hit by Disney's monorail system, and stated, "The person was not struck by the monorail."

💔 31-year-old Summer Equitz, a Disney superfan from Naperville, Illinois, was found dead at Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort.

- Authorities ruled it an apparent suicide
- She had vanished from her home months earlier#Disney #SummerEquitz #LoveYourW #paobc pic.twitter.com/67Gz9QBGrd

— GlobeUpdate (@Globupdate) October 16, 2025

At Disney’s Contemporary Resort, which is one of the most famous hotels, emergency responders arrived after it was reported that an individual was dead on the property. Videos and photos shared with third-party news sources seemed to show a white tent having been set up near the resort’s large glass atrium area.

The area where the tent was placed is near the monorail line, which led to speculation that the situation involved the train system although this was quickly shown to be inaccurate.

"This appears to be a suicide," a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department told outlets including Deadline and Entertainment Weekly. A police official declined to comment further. They said information is being withheld because of the sensitive nature of the case.

More about Summer Equitz's background as Disney and law enforcement response

As reported by The Daily Mail and New York Post, Summer Equitz was a diehard Disney fan who often posted photos from the parks. In one post in 2021, she posted a photo of herself meeting then Disney CEO Bob Iger, writing, “My life has peaked.”

Equitz allegedly left her home in Naperville, Illinois, without telling anyone, and booked a flight to Orlando, on the same day she died. A family member later made a missing person post in a Reddit thread for Disney fans asking anyone who might spot her at the resort, to contact the police. Unfortunately, that post was taken down after her death was confirmed.

The Orange County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled her death a suicide due to multiple blunt impact injuries.

Disneyland guest dies after heart attack on Haunted Mansion ride https://t.co/hAzrn4kXRF pic.twitter.com/RsMonWQ5cp

— New York Post (@nypost) October 8, 2025

The occurrence comes in the wake of numerous similar events happening at parks and resorts around Disney in recent years. Disneyland in California had three deaths from falls from its parking garages in 2022 and 2023. Just last week, a woman in her 60s had a medical emergency after riding the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland, and later died.

Disney critics have indicated that suicides at the resort in Florida, while rarely talked about in public, are not uncommon. Jim Hill, host of the Disney Dish podcast, said the Contemporary Resort has seen several suicides.

"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," Hill said in a 2022 interview.

Although the Sheriff’s Department classified the incident as a suicide, Walt Disney World has not made any statements. The company does not comment on deaths on its property in deference to the families involved.