Gilmore Girls child star Scout Taylor-Compton’s life after mysterious two-week disappearance
Most fans of Gilmore Girls remember Dean Forester’s adorable yet annoying younger sister, Clara.
Played by child star Scout Taylor-Compton, Clara was best known for irritating bad boy Jess Mariano in the early-2000s series, as well as third-wheeling Dean and Rory Gilmore at the Stars Hollow winter carnival.
But years before she traded network television for a career as a Hollywood scream queen, the young actor sparked a genuine, real-life panic.
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In August 2005, right on the heels of appearing in teen hits like Sleepover and 13 Going on 30, a 16-year-old Taylor-Compton vanished from her family home in Apple Valley, California.
She dropped off the map for nearly two weeks, prompting her family to hire a private investigator while the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department launched a local search.
During the two-week disappearance, her loved ones released a statement begging for the teenager to come home.
"We sincerely appreciate everyone's attention and concern regarding Scout and are praying for her safe return," her family said.
They continued: "We have faith in the agencies working on the case and are optimistic that the outcome will be positive."
Meanwhile, the teen star's publicist, Laura Marks, spoke directly to the press. She added: "Her parents are completely distraught."
The situation finally came to a conclusion when the Apple Valley Police Department learned about her whereabouts from officials at a local school - at which point they reunited her with her family, confirming to the public that the teenager was likely a runaway.
San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jodie Miller later assured fans that Taylor-Compton was safe.
"She seems to be unharmed, no evidence of any criminal activity during the time she was missing," Miller confirmed.
After bouncing back from the incident, Taylor-Compton reinvented her acting career and secured a place in horror history - shedding her innocent image to step into the shoes of horror's ultimate final girl, Laurie Strode.
She gained notoriety starring as the survivor in Rob Zombie’s 2007 Halloween remake, taking on the role originally played by Jamie Lee Curtis.
Zombie's version of the slasher classic was much darker, with Taylor-Compton delivering a pretty grueling performance as she faced off against Michael Myers.
Just two years later, she reprised the role for the sequel, Halloween II. As we all know by now, Laurie Strode is Michael's sister and in the sequel he prepared for another reunion with his sister as she comes to terms with his deadly return to Haddonfield, Illinois.
Since then, Taylor-Compton has starred in dozens of horrors and thrillers - including last year's Into the Deep, where she starred as Cassidy Branham - a tourist who was kidnapped by pirates and forced to dive into shark-infested waters to retrieve sunken drugs.
The only other actor who successfully managed to reinvent themselves in such a way that I'm aware of is the one and only Matthew McConaughey who was sick of all the rom-coms and turned them down for 20 months before landing huge roles in dramas.
Topics: Halloween, Entertainment
Joe Yates