Mark Salling was found dead in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday morning, according to the Associated Press. He was 35.
The actor played bad boy Noah “Puck” Puckerman on all six seasons of Ryan Murphy’s musical dramedy “Glee,” which aired on Fox from 2009 to 2015.
According to TMZ, Salling died of an apparent suicide by hanging, and was found near a riverbed adjacent to a little league baseball field in the Tujunga neighborhood of L.A.
The L.A. County Department of Medical Examiner, however, could not confirm the death until next of kin is informed. Official’s said his death is being investigated as suicide.
“I can confirm that Mark Salling passed away early this morning,” Salling’s attorney, Michael J. Proctor, said in an email to the Associated Press. “Mark was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity, who was doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of judgment.” Proctor did not reveal the cause of death.
The former Glee star had recently pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, with his sentencing scheduled for March 7.
Salling reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in October after admitting he possessed images of prepubescent children. A search warrant found more than 50,000 images of child porn on his computer and a thumb drive.
Salling was facing between 4 to 7 years in prison, and would also have been required to register as a sex offender.