Julia Roberts' half-sister Nancy Motes dies of a suspected drugs overdose

  Julia, left, and Nancy, right

The half sister of Hollywood actress Julia Roberts has died after a suspected drugs overdose.
Nancy Motes was the youngest sister of the Academy Award-winner and actor Eric Roberts.
"It is with deep sadness that the family of Nancy Motes ... confirms that she was found dead in Los Angeles yesterday of an apparent drug overdose," a family statement said.
"There is no official report from the Coroner's office yet. The family is both shocked and devastated.”
The 37-year-old was found on Sunday.          
Nancy, who grew up in Georgia, was only 13 when Roberts shot to Hollywood fame as hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman.
The actress , who had won a Golden Globe for playing a young bride in Steel Magnolias, received a second after co-starring alongside Richard Gere.
At the time of her death she had been hoping to follow in her sister’s footstep as an actress and had worked as a production assistant on TV's Glee.
Julia and Nancy had the same mother, Betty Lou, but different fathers.
Nancy's dad was Michael Motes and Julia's was the late Walter Grady Roberts.
The relationship between her and her famous sibling was often strained.

Julia's relationship with Nancy was strained

In August, she gave an interview detailing her relationship with Julia, revealing how the Erin Brockovich star often teased her about her weight.
"When I was in high school and she was an adult, she would just let me know that I was definitely overweight,” Nancy said.
“She would make it quite clear to me and in a not-so-nice a manner.
“It just makes me feel incredibly hurt and very sad.
“When you’re in a family of very, very exceptionally beautiful people it’s intimidating.”
Nancy,  who said she was known as Julia's “fat little sister”, once weighed 21 stone before taking the decision to undergo £20,000 gastric bypass surgery in June 2010.
She refused to ask her sister, who is worth £90million, for the money and instead took out a loan.
Nancy had lost seven stone since the operation last June.
She had hoped her transformation would help repair their fractured relationship, however said it was still “a work in progress.”
“It’s not going to be fixed overnight, nor do I think it’s going to be fixed at this point by me just getting skinny,” she said.
She described herself as an “awkward” child who was bullied at school, could not compete with the success of her “very pretty and very popular” sister.
Nancy had been living in a Malibu apartment with her fiance John Dilbeck, a film and TV locations manager.
The couple had planned to wed in May

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