'Hell's Kitchen' Contestant Dead At 34

Hell's Kitchen and Cutthroat Kitchen contestant Jessica Vogel died on Monday (July 30), PEOPLE reported. The New Jersey chef was 34. 

Vogel's fiancé, John Michael Keysey, spoke with NorthJersey.com and revealed that the chef was being treated for the inflammatory bowel disease colitis at a hospital in southern New Jersey. According to Keysey, "her heart gave out." Vogel is survived by her mother, Donna Bruchmann, her father, Mark Vogel, and her sister, Caitlin Johnstone. 

In her obituary, which was published by the Star Ledger on Wednesday, readers learned that the chef struggled with drugs and alcohol throughout her life, prompting her to check into an in-patient rehab program. "She recently committed to living a better life and had graduated from an inpatient rehabilitation program with hopes of regaining control of her life," the obituary read. "Unfortunately, the damage done over the years was too great, and she died, like she lived, a fighter. She wants the message left behind not to be 'sex, drugs, and Foie Gras,' but rather the importance of appreciating your talents, always working hard to improve, but to never forget that it is the loving heart that truly changes the world."

Vogel's sister, Johnstone, took to Facebook on Wednesday, to tribute her late sibling with a touching message, detailing her love for making people laugh. "Everywhere she went from the local Dunkin Donuts to literally every restaurant we walked into, people knew her name and commented on her vivacious personality and huge smile," she wrote. "Her energy was contagious. Just being around my sister made me the happiest person in the world. That world has been taken away from me and I have never felt so lost."

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