Kaylee Hottle dead at 18: Godzilla vs Kong child star passes away after tragic car crash
By CHRISTINE RENDÓN, US SENIOR REPORTER
Published: 10:37 EDT, 21 July 2026 \| Updated: 10:47 EDT, 21 July 2026
Kaylee Hottle, the actress who played 'Jia' in Godzilla vs Kong, has died at age 18.
Hottle passed in a car crash on the morning of July 21 in Maryland, her father Joshua Hottle revealed to TMZ.
Joshua also broke the news with followers in a livestream titled 'I am taking a flight that I never would like to take,' in which he described in American Sign Language having to travel to Texas to claim his daughter's body.
According to TMZ, Hottle said he received a phone call from officials telling him his daughter's heart had stopped on the way to the hospital not long after her learned about the accident.
Before landing her role in Godzilla vs Kong, Hottle, a deaf actress, did commercials, including a public service message for the live video messaging app used by the hard of hearing community, Glide.
She was cast as Jia in Godzilla vs Kong in 2021, before returning to the role in Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire in 2024.
'Because Kong and my character had a special bond. We signed with each other. Not with Godzilla, it was different. Then later we met,' she said during a 2021 interview with The Daily Moth.
Kaylee Hottle, the actress who played 'Jia' in Godzilla vs Kong, has died at age 18 following a car crash