60-Year-Old Theater Actress Jumps Off NYC High Rise With Her Dog, Both Die

KEY POINTS

Linda Holston, 60, jumped to her death from her apartment along with her pet dog
The theater actress had written a note talking about stress prior to her demise
Bottles of medication were found in her apartment after the incident

A 60-year-old woman plunged to her death along with her pet dog after they jumped from the top of her Manhattan, New York apartment Friday, police and law enforcement sources said.

The woman, later identified as theater actress Linda Holston, had just finished her meal on top of the 46-story The Victory apartment complex located at 561 10th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen when she leaped with her dog just before 1 p.m., The New York Post first reported, citing police and other sources.

Both Holston and her pet, which was a rescue dog, were declared dead at the scene, according to police.

The elderly woman had prepared a handwritten note talking about stress before she walked to the edge of the building and jumped, sources said. They added that bottles of medication were found in her apartment.

"Looks like depression," a source was quoted as saying by The New York Post.

Holston had moved from New Mexico to Manhattan in 2017, where she acted in community theater, the outlet said.

"Love this city," Holston wrote in a Facebook post uploaded in November of last year, which showed a group of musicians performing on the street.

A receptionist at Pure Paws Veterinary Care on East 42nd Street said Holston would come to the establishment for the regular care of her rat terrier, named Jake, which was already 16 and a half years old.

“She was so sweet,” a resident and fellow dog lover from Holston’s apartment complex said.

Holston studied at the William Esper Studio and completed the program in 2019 while staying in New York, according to a profile on film and performing arts magazine Backstage's website. She had graduated AA Theatre at California's Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in 1981.

The theater actress has two acting credits listed on IMBD, which included a short film called "Larry Larissa Linda" and a television show titled "Conversations in Apartment 3A." Holston also appeared in an off-Broadway play called "The Accidental Awakening" in 2019, according to her Facebook page.

Holston's LinkedIn page listed a number of sales-related jobs prior to her arrival in New York. The last job listed was as a part-time fundraiser for the Manhattan Threatre Club, which lasted from Sept. 2019 to March 2020.

Instead of a job title, she had written, "What a wonderful world," under her profile.