Only days after Chad Lowe and Kim Painter announced the devastating death of their 13-year-old daughter, Fiona, her older sister has found a deeply personal way to keep her memory alive.
Mabel Lowe, 17, shared a collection of private family photographs and videos of Fiona on October 3, offering a glimpse of the sisters’ relationship from early childhood through more recent years. The carousel reportedly contained around 15 images, including playful childhood moments, time spent together at the beach and a final image of Fiona doing something she dearly loved: dancing. EW.com
Alongside the photographs, Mabel wrote directly to her sister.
“I love you so much Fiona,” she began, before saying she wished her sister’s short life had been easier. Mabel promised that she would “honor you forever and keep your memory alive.” People.com
It was a brief message, but the photographs surrounding it told a much longer story.
Two Sisters Growing Up Side by Side
Mabel is Chad and Kim’s eldest daughter. Fiona was their middle child, while their youngest daughter, Nixie, is now 10.
The newly shared photographs begin when Mabel and Fiona were very small.
One shows the girls squeezed together inside a little dog bed. Another captures Fiona wrapping her arms around Mabel’s neck while standing inside a crib, both sisters smiling toward the camera. Other images document the ordinary moments that rarely make celebrity red carpets: playing, vacations, days at the beach and simply growing up together. E! Online
They are particularly poignant because these weren’t photographs originally created for the public.
They were family memories.
And after Fiona’s death, Mabel chose to share them as a record of the little sister she loved.
The Final Image Focused on Fiona’s Love of Dance
Among the most moving parts of Mabel’s tribute was its ending.
The final image showed Fiona dancing. AOL.com
That choice carried special significance because when Chad and Kim announced their daughter’s death, dance was one of the things they specifically mentioned when describing her.
Their statement remembered Fiona as loving, smart and creative — a girl who loved to dance and who was deeply cherished by her family. They called her “the light of our lives.” People.com
It means the last photograph in Mabel’s tribute wasn’t simply another pretty picture.
It showed Fiona immersed in something that had been an important part of her short life.
Fiona Died at Just 13
The Lowe family announced Fiona’s death on September 29, 2026.
She was only 13.
In their initial statement, Chad and Kim did not publicly detail the circumstances. Instead, they concentrated on who their daughter had been and asked people to give their family prayers and privacy while they grieved. People.com
Days later, records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed that Fiona had died by suicide. She had been pronounced dead at a Los Angeles-area hospital on September 29. Los Angeles Times
The family’s original announcement included information for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Mabel’s Words Revealed the Depth of Her Grief
Mabel’s tribute arrived only four days after her sister’s death.
Rather than issuing a polished public statement, the 17-year-old wrote to Fiona as a sister.
She said she hoped Fiona was finally at peace and ended by expressing one painful wish: that Fiona had understood just how deeply she was loved. EW.com
Those words resonated with people who saw the post.
Friends of the family and fellow actors offered support in the comments. David Boreanaz described the sisters as “two peas in a pod forever,” while Melissa Gilbert called Mabel’s post a beautiful tribute. The Celeb Post
For a teenager experiencing an enormous loss, however, Mabel’s central promise was strikingly simple.
She intends to keep her sister’s memory alive.
Fiona Was the Middle of Three Sisters
Chad and Kim generally kept their daughters away from the constant exposure that often accompanies growing up in a Hollywood family.
Still, there were occasional public appearances.
In June 2015, Chad and Kim attended the Children Mending Hearts Empathy Rocks fundraiser with Mabel and Fiona.
Later that year, the family appeared together when Chad’s older brother, Rob Lowe, received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. E! Online
As the family grew, Nixie joined her older sisters.
One of the most recognizable photographs of all three girls together came at the 2023 premiere of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. Mabel, Fiona and Nixie stood alongside their parents on the red carpet. E! Online
Today, that photograph has an entirely different emotional weight.
Chad Had Often Spoken About How Much Fatherhood Meant to Him
For Chad Lowe, being a father to three daughters wasn’t merely another part of his life.
He had described it as one of its defining privileges.
The Emmy-winning actor, known for Life Goes On, Pretty Little Liars, Bones and 9-1-1: Lone Star, spoke in a 2024 interview about how meaningful it was to be a “girl dad.” AOL.com
His social media reflected the same thing.
Rather than keeping his account focused entirely on acting, Chad periodically shared birthdays, vacations and family milestones.
That included Fiona.
Photographs from those posts now provide a visual record of her childhood — smiling outdoors, traveling with her family and growing up alongside Mabel and Nixie.
The Family Had Already Endured a Devastating Loss
The tragedy came after an extraordinarily difficult period for the family.
Their home was destroyed during the Pacific Palisades fire in 2025. People.com
Chad later shared images of his daughters returning to what remained of the property.
Amid the destruction, his focus was on them.
He praised their resilience and said that helping his children navigate difficult circumstances had become his purpose as their father. AOL.com
At the time, those words referred to rebuilding after losing a home.
Less than two years later, the family would confront a loss of an entirely different magnitude.
Fiona’s Grandfather Shared His Own Goodbye
Mabel wasn’t the only family member to publicly remember Fiona.
Chad and Rob Lowe’s father, Charles “Chuck” Lowe, shared a photograph of his granddaughter smiling while swimming.
His message was only a few words:
“Rest in peace, sweet Fiona.” AOL.com
Fiona’s dance teacher, Kendra Andrews, also shared a rehearsal video while remembering the teenager and the impact she had made on the people around her. AOL.com
Together, those tributes painted a fuller picture of Fiona than the circumstances of her death ever could.
She was a daughter.
A granddaughter.
A dancer.
And, perhaps most visibly in Mabel’s photographs, a little sister.
Her Last Public Red Carpet Appearance Came With Her Family
Fiona’s last major family red-carpet appearance was at the February 2023 premiere of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur in Burbank, California. Page Six
The photograph is striking in its normality.
Chad and Kim stand with their three daughters.
Fiona is positioned between her sisters.
Mabel is beside their father.
Nixie, still very young, stands with the rest of the family.
Nobody looking at that photograph at the time could have known what it would eventually represent.
It was simply a family attending a premiere together.
Now it has become one of the relatively few professional photographs documenting all five of them during Fiona’s childhood.
But Mabel’s RARE PHOTOS Show the Fiona Her Family Knew
The red-carpet photographs preserve public milestones.
Mabel’s RARE PHOTOS preserve something else.
They show two little girls growing up together.
One picture captures them tiny enough to fit together in a dog bed.
Another preserves a childhood embrace.
There are beaches, smiles and ordinary days.
And finally there is Fiona dancing.
Those are the images Mabel chose when she was faced with an impossible task: saying goodbye to her 13-year-old sister.
She didn’t try to explain everything that had happened.
Instead, she made a promise.
She would honor Fiona.
She would keep her memory alive.
And she hoped her little sister had known how much she was loved. EW.com
For Mabel, those 15 photographs aren’t simply a social-media carousel anymore.
They are pieces of a childhood the sisters shared — and memories of Fiona that her family can carry forward.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or struggling with suicidal thoughts, contact local emergency services. In the U.S. and Canada, call or text 988 for crisis support.
For more stories of enduring love and changing lives, check out how Ann-Margret put Hollywood aside to care for her ailing husband and see how Lisa Rinna’s face changed from her *Melrose Place* years to 63.
