A Former Child Star Found Dead In Pennsylvania

Former child star Matthew Mindler had been reported missing from his college and as found dead on Saturday. Details are just emerging

By Tristan Zelden | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

matthew mindler

Former child star Matthew Mindler (Our Idiot Brother) was reported missing from Millersville University on Thursday (August 26). Today (August 28), his body had been found. He was 19-years-old.

The body of the previous Matthew Mindler was found in Manor Township near campus. He was taken to Lancaster County Forensic Center by the coroner, who will further investigate to determine a cause of death.

Matthew Mindler was last seen at approximately 8:11 p.m. that evening wearing a hooded sweatshirt, jeans, sneakers, and carrying a backpack while he was walking from his residence hall, West Villages, toward the Centennial Dr. parking lot. The night after was when he was reported missing as he did not return to his dorm, come to class, or call his family. Millersville University police filed the report about the missing former child star. It was submitted to the National Crime Information Center, and then the local police departments were notified. People were encouraged to step up if they have any information about his whereabouts, which could have been submitted to the University’s LiveSafe app.

matthew mindler

The school posted a thread of tweets to keep students posted about the missing Matthew Mindler. It kept up with the latest updates from the police and the eventual announcement of his death. At the bottom of the thread is a statement from the president Dr. Daniel A. Wubah.

Matthew Mindler was a first-year student at Millersville University. We don’t know what he was studying. The school confirmed the former child star had attended his scheduled classes on Monday and Tuesday. From the school’s website, the fall 2021 semester had started Monday (August 23). Freshmen like Mindler had to attend an orientation if they are online students anywhere between August 3 and 14, but on-campus students would have attended their orientation between August 19 and 22.

The death of the student and former child star has sparked encouragement for students to reach out if they need help. Resources listed consisted of Millersville Counseling Center, chaplains within Campus Ministries, Health Services, and the Center for Health Education and Promotion. For employees shaken by the news can contact the State Employee Assistance Program. The phone numbers, if needed, can be seen from the tweets seen above.

As a child star, Matthew Mindler was best known for Our Idiot Brother in 2011. The film was directed and written by Jesse Peretz (Glow) with co-writers Evgenia Peretz (Juliet, Naked) and David Schisgall (The Oil War). Matthew Mindler starred with Paul Rudd (Avengers: Endgame), Elizabeth Banks (Mrs. America), and Zooey Deschanel (New Girl). He had starred in shorts like Frequency and Solo. His last credited role was in the TV movie Chad: An American Boy that featured Nasim Pedrad (Aladdin), Paul Chahidi (Good Omens), Makenna James (American Woman), and Ariana Milkara (Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn). It was directed by Modern Family director and producer Jason Winer with writer Rob Rosell, who is best known as a producer for It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia and New Girl.

This is, of course, tragic news about Matthew Mindler and our condolences go out to his family.