Another Loss for Caitlyn Jenner, Her Close Friend Was Found Dead on a Hiking Trail

Writer William Haskell, a close friend of Jenner for many years, was found dead in Los Angeles, and the cause of death is still unclear. The painful news comes about a year after her close friend, whose estate she recently sued and won, died in a horrific accident.

Nearly a year after Caitlyn Jenner's close friend and manager, Sophia Hutchins, died in a shocking ATV accident, the 76-year-old Jenner has lost another close friend. Writer William Haskell, who also served as her biographer because of their close relationship, was found dead on a hiking trail in Los Angeles over the weekend, E! News reported today (Wednesday).

Haskell's body, at age 78, was discovered on June 6 at 7:05 p.m. near Runyon Canyon Park in California. According to records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Los Angeles Fire Department officials said aerial rescue teams were dispatched to the site, were lowered down to the patient, and attempted to save his life, without success, according to a statement published yesterday. However, the cause of death has not yet been released.

Haskell, a veteran writer and screenwriter who was among the creators of "The Smurfs," served as Jenner's ghostwriter for her 1996 motivational book, Finding the Champion Within. But their acquaintance goes back much further, 12 years earlier, when he worked on a special NBC broadcast devoted to the U.S. Olympic team, where he met Jenner, then an Olympic gold medalist. They later became close friends, and over time she asked him to help write the book, which presented ten steps to changing one's life, years before the real change she made through gender affirmation surgery.

It has not even been a year. Hutchins and Jenner | Photo: From Caitlyn Jenner's Instagram page Advertisement

Haskell's death, he was previously married to actress Robin Riker, comes almost a year after Hutchins was involved in the tragic accident last July, not far from Jenner's home in Malibu, after crashing into a moving vehicle and flying into a ravine. Months after her death, Jenner sued her close friend's estate for nearly half a million dollars, along with claims over various credit card charges Hutchins had used.

A difficult period. Jenner | Photo: Jesse Grant, GettyImages

And she will get her money: about three months ago, Hutchins' estate managers approved paying Jenner the full amount she had demanded, $439,095.88.