Esta TerBlanche, All My Children Star and Former Miss Teen South Africa, Dies at 51

All My Children alum Esta TerBlanche has died, her manager confirmed to PEOPLE on Sunday, July 21. She was 51.

“We are deeply saddened by this news,” her manager Annie Spoliansky said in a statement to PEOPLE. “As for a personal statement, I’d like to say that Esta was such a kind, loving, giving, and caring person.”

“She cared so deeply for all people and animals,” she added. “She had squirrels she fed and looked after daily, her two cats and recent kittens that she cared for as her own children.”

“Esta was never anything but generous and lovely to me, and I’m grateful to have known her for the time that I did, and devastated to learn of her passing,” her statement concluded.

TerBlanche’s publicist, Lisa Rodrigo, also remembered the star, telling PEOPLE, “I am heartbroken upon learning about Esta’s death. She was and always will be a beautiful soul who I will miss every day. I am proud to have known her and call her not only a client but a friend.”

The cause of the South African actress’ death is unknown. Deadline reported that authorities believe TerBlanche had been dead for about a day when her body was found.

TerBlanche was best known for playing Gillian Andrassy Lavery on All My Children from 1997 to 2001. The character was a Hungarian princess whose love interest and eventual husband on the show was Cameron Mathison’s character Ryan Lavery.

“RIP my Sweet Princess,” Mathison, 54, wrote in tribute over a photo of the pair in character on his Instagram Stories on Sunday. He also posted another photo of the TV couple posing together with broken heart emojis over it.

“Esta helped me last year when Red was sick and paralyzed and I was struggling,” he wrote over another photo of the pair, a recent selfie. “One of the sweetest people ever.”

Mathison grinned in the photo as TerBlanche made a kissing face near his cheek.

TerBlanche held the title of Miss Teen South Africa in 1991 before she began pursuing a career in acting, Deadline reported.

The former soap opera star was born in South Africa on Jan. 7, 1973 and starred as Bienkie Naudé Hartman on Egoli: Place of Gold, a popular drama in the country, before landing her role on All My Children.

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As the time of her death, Deadline reported that she was splitting time between South Africa and California.