MasterChef Josh Marks Dies from Gunshot Wound, Police Confirm Suicide
MasterChef finalist Josh Marks committed suicide and was pronounced dead Friday evening according to the Chicago police.
The 26-year-old chef died from a gunshot wound that the chef inflicted on himself, authorities say. Police who arrived at the scene Friday evening were told by two of Josh Marks's relatives that the MasterChef finalist suffered from a mental disorder. The remains of the self-taught chef was found along an alley near his Chicago home. He was laying beside a revolver, reports say.
In July of 2013, the MasterChef finalist was arrested for assaulting an officer. During his arrest, Marks allegedly claimed that Gordon Ramsay, the judge for the show MasterChef, possessed him.
According to Josh Marks's mother Paulette Mitchell said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that her son "couldn't bear the thought of another diagnosis." Marks was diagnosed with schizophrenia prior to taking his life.
His mother reportedly picked him up from a hospital Thursday and noticed that Marks was visibly upset. Mitchel stayed with her son most of Friday until she had to leave to pick Marks's sister from school.
Just hours later, Mitchel received a phone call from Josh's uncle that her son was walking around in an alley with a gun.
"I started driving down the alleys. I didn't reach my boy in time," Mitchel recounted to the reporters.
After MasterChef, Marks moved back to Chicago. His mental health reportedly worsened and that the food star began hearing voices.
What is Schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a mental condition that affects the brain's normal functioning including affecting the person's ability to feel, think, and act. While schizophrenics are usually depicted as people with split personality disorder in popular culture, it's been noted by experts that schizophrenics only have one "personality" like everyone else.
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
People afflicted with this disorder not receiving any type of treatment usually experience persistent psychosis including disordered or confused thinking, delusions or having false beliefs and hallucinations.
What causes Schizophrenia?
Experts cannot explain the real cause of schizophrenia but they believe that it is a combination of genetic and external factors. Some people are said to be predisposed to develop schizophrenia and that drug use or stress can trigger the ailment.