Stars we lost in 2021: 'Moonshiner' Lance Waldroup (30)

On February 25, 2021, a young reality star suddenly passed away. Lance Waldroup was a protagonist in the Discovery channel series 'Moonshiners,' which follows a family of distillers in North Carolina. His death, at the young age of 30, was announced by the channel on Facebook on March 3rd.

Discovery described Waldroup as "an adventurous distiller [who] appeared alongside his father throughout the early seasons of Moonshiners." It assured fans of the series that Lance would be "sorely missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult time."

According to Discovery, Lance "was always looking to take his flavorful recipes of ‘shine to new heights." That's a very generous description of his accomplishments. In the series, Lance was rather known for his inexperience in distilling spirits. He made a name for himself by crafting absinthes and whiskeys with less success than he would have liked.

Discovery's message arrived a week after Waldroup's death. His father Jeff would confirm that he had, in fact, passed away on February 25. In the months that followed, the causes of the famous distiller's death were never disclosed.

After the news of Lance's death was announced, Waldroup family members began a GoFundMe initiative to help his parents carry the burden of the young man's funeral. The summary of their petition describes the difficulties that the Waldroup family had gone through. Their story is heartbreaking: Jeff and Lynn Waldroup, Lance's parents, lost all three of their children in the last few years.

"Lyndsey Waldroup had cystic fibrosis and passed away when she was 11 years old," the GoFundMe text reads, while "her brother Lamar also had cystic fibrosis and had to have a lung transplant." Eventually, the site continues, "Lamar lived for a year and a half with the transplant but passed away when he was 20." The tragic story of the Waldroup family was provided by Joe Bailey, the organizer of the fundraiser.

The series of tragic losses "left Lance with no siblings," Bailey said. "Lance suffered from extreme survivor's guilt and eventually turned to banned substances. He was an addict for several years and then decided to turn his life around. He went to rehab and became a recovered addict." But then, doom struck the family again.

"His mother Lynn was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and Lance left 'Moonshiners' to care for her full time, doing everything around the house. He didn't want to leave her side."

Eventually, his father also had to leave the program that had made them famous and helped them forge many friendships. Both father and son had devoted themselves to distilling alcohol full time.

In the end, the pandemic and weather conditions left Jeff Waldroup without work in November 2020. In addition to his mother's illness, this setback may have affected the state of mind of Lance even more. All in all, the Waldroups had been living an incredibly tough family story that took yet another macabre turn in February 2021.

Read also: the tragic and sudden death of Jahmil French, star of 'Degrassi: The Next Generation'