Australian model and swimwear designer Sahara Ray died on Sunday, October 18, 2026, at age 34. Her family confirmed the news to hypefresh the following day, saying she
“passed away last night surrounded by family at the hospital. She was so loved.”
Due to her career as a model, swimwear line, and new motherhood status, the news garnered a lot of attention from the media. Several media houses, such as People, E! News, Entertainment Weekly, and US Weekly, published the same essential information from the family’s statement.
Ray was the daughter of Australian professional surfer Tony Ray, who ranked among the world’s top big-wave competitors in the early 1990s. She grew up splitting time between Australia, Santa Cruz, California, and Hawaii’s North Shore while traveling with her father for competitions. She later studied at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles and built a following as a model and Instagram personality.
In the mid-2010s she launched Sahara Ray Swim, a brand that became a central part of her professional identity. She was photographed vacationing with Justin Bieber in Hawaii in 2016 and had earlier been linked to Australian singer Cody Simpson; neither relationship was publicly confirmed by the parties involved. Those associations brought her extra media notice, yet her work as a model and designer remained the foundation of her public profile.
Ray had her daughter Snow born in January 2026. She would update people through her social media regarding the pregnancy and motherhood. One of the last posts she made on Instagram is the one that has the picture of the baby and says
“My whole heart baby Snow.”
In 2024 Ray publicly discussed a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome after a serious car accident involving an alleged drunk driver. She described temporary paralysis from the upper thighs down and the use of a wheelchair and walker while recovering. Reports have not established any link between that condition and her death.
No officially stated cause of death from either the authorities or the family has been made public. It has been claimed by some sources, citing the Daily Mail and insiders of the family, that Ray had an overdose of the drug fentanyl in Los Angeles on Friday night and was on life support until the family decided to pull out the plug.
Gretchen Bach, Ray’s mother, described her as
“a very passionate and loving young lady, who loved her family, fashion, her little daughter, Snow, and surfing.”
Model and friend Sabrina Zada paid her tributes to Ray and said she was
“bigger than the whole sky.”
Sahara Ray leaves behind her infant daughter and a body of work that combined modeling, entrepreneurship, and openness about personal challenges. Official details on the medical cause of her death may still emerge.
