Housekeeper who found Kate Spade's body and tried to save her steps out of the house for the first time since the incident
Kate Spade's housekeeper, Bella Cariaga was spotted for the first time after the designer's tragic death, according to Daily Mail. Bella was spotted leaving the apartment that Andy Spade had been renting since last month. She was spotted walking past the reporters and refused to comment on the incident. Bella was the first one who saw Kate hanging in the bedroom bathroom and tried her best to save the designer.
The police sources told the tabloid that Bella first called 911 and then called a male worker, whose identity is unknown, in the building to help her. Even though the unknown man managed to free Kate, they were unable to save her life as she was pronounced dead. Bella was photographed shortly after police confirmed that Kate's cause of death had been hanging. Bella was remarkably close to Kate.
The two shared a strong bond with each other. Kate even named a pair of sandals after Bella. In her new Frances Valentine line, Kate named one of her designs as Bella Ankle Strap Sandal which was being retailed for $475 at select stores. Bella even shared the photos of the shoes Kate often gave her on her social media page. She took to her Facebook to share the picture of Bella Ankle Strap and captioned the image as, "When you get your own shoe line. I'm so lucky to have my first pair of Frances Valentine sandals."
At the same time, Kate was also very close to Bella's son Mark Roldan. Talking about the relationship his mom and Kate shared, he said: “She is a little shaken, especially with trauma such as this. It just really hit our family and I’m pretty sure the Spade family as well. It was just really shocking to find out her best friend Kate Spade and also a big influence in my life just passed."
Mark even wrote a letter talking about what Kate was for him. He even recalled bringing her flowers just weeks before her death. "I believed that one day that I could be in your shoes, being able to travel the world and do what you love to do," he wrote. "I will forever cherish the moment that I brought you flowers on Mother’s Day because you were like a mother to me. You deserved it. You deserved the world."
"You were at a loss for words when you opened the door to me holding a bouquet of flowers. You couldn’t believe it. You even called me twenty minutes after I left your apartment to thank me again for the flowers." He went on to thank Kate for giving him a chance to enter the fashion industry by allowing him to work with Sleepy Jones, her husband Andy's clothing company.
"You said that you loved me and even invited me to come along to Napa Valley with you again this Summer. You even said that I was like the son you never had," he added.
More members of Kate's family have come forward to share what she meant to them. Andy, her husband, made a statement in which he spoke about losing his best friend and lover of 35 years. Actor and comedian David Spade, her brother-in-law posted some old memories he had shared with her. Kate's dad and sister also opened up about her mental health and her struggle with prescription pills. People from all walks of life, be it actors, politicians or even fans of Kate's design empire wrote tributes to her on social media expressing their condolences over her death.