Anton Yelchin Dies; Star Trek Actor Was 27

Anton Yelchin, an actor best known for roles in Star Trek and Alpha Dog, was killed Sunday morning after a freak accident at his home.

He was 27 years old.

According to TMZ insiders, the actor died after being pinned between his own car and a brick mailbox.

Yelchin’s friends reportedly grew concerned after he failed to meet them hours earlier for a rehearsal, as they had previously scheduled.

The group therefore went to his San Fernando Valley home at around 1 a.m. and that’s when they discovered his body, pinned in the manner we described above:

Between his car and a brick mailbox, which was attached to a security gate.

Law enforcement officials do not suspect any foul play.

They told TMZ that Yelchin’s engine was running when his body was found, and that the vehicle was in neutral.

The driveway sits on a rather steep incline, although there’s no way of knowing how Yelchin ended up in this position.

He had to have gotten out of his car for some reason.

Yelchin started his career small with roles in independent films and various TV shows, prior to breaking out in movies such as the crime thriller Alpha Dog and the teenage comedy Charlie Bartlett.

By far his biggest role to date, however, has been in as Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek franchise.

The third film from it, Star Trek Beyond, comes out on July 22 of this year.

An only child born in Russia, Yelchin’s parents were professional figure skaters who moved the family to the United States when Yelchin was a young child. 

We send our condolences to his friends, family members and loved ones.

UPDATE: A statement from the late star’s rep reads as follows:

"Actor Anton Yelchin was killed in a fatal traffic collision early this morning. His family requests you respect their privacy at this time."

He joins a long, celebrated list of stars gone too soon in 2016:

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