For many viewers, this was not a typical viral clip. It felt like running into a memory you were not prepared to hold.
Tylor Chase, who played Martin Qwerly on Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, has been seen living unhoused in Riverside, California in videos that resurfaced online in late December 2025.
What Devon Werkheiser actually said, and what he asked people to stop doing
Devon Werkheiser, who played Ned, addressed the situation in an interview published December 22, saying Chase was “a sensitive, sweet, and kind kid” and calling it “heartbreaking” to see tylor chase in this state.
devon werkheiser also said he has not seen tylor Chase in nearly 20 years and acknowledged how complicated things get when severe addiction and deep mental health struggles are involved, especially if the person does not want help.
Devon Werkheiser’s sharpest message was about dignity: he said he wishes people would stop filming and posting Chase for views, while hoping the attention could still lead to real support and treatment.
Christmas Eve in Riverside: a jacket, a prayer, and a moment that changed the tone
On Christmas Eve, tylor Chase was spotted again during heavy rain in Southern California. In video obtained by reporters, two men approached him, gave him a jacket, and one of them prayed over him as the downpour continued.
It was a small act, but it cut through the noise. It looked less like spectacle and more like a human reflex: somebody saw him shivering and tried to make the night survivable.
What Riverside police say they have offered, and why it has not stuck
Riverside Police have said officers are familiar with tylor Chase and interact with him regularly, describing repeated offers for mental health services, drug and alcohol treatment, and temporary shelter.
According to the same account, Chase has continued to decline those offers, even as outreach teams keep trying.
A separate report also highlighted Shaun Weiss’s offer and included Weiss’s message that recovery is possible, but help still hinges on finding Chase and getting him to agree to treatment.
Daniel Curtis Lee’s hands-on update: food, a hotel room, and trying again tomorrow
Daniel Curtis Lee, who played Cookie, has been unusually direct about what help can look like when it is not a headline. In an update shared through reporting on December 24, he described meeting up with Chase for a meal and securing a hotel room for him during the holiday crush, after earlier efforts to get Chase into a hospital did not hold.
Lee has also talked about the long game: staying present, building trust, and working toward rehab rather than pretending one good night fixes a life that has been unraveling for a while.
Shaun Weiss says a detox bed is available, but the first step is still contact
Shaun Weiss has said he helped line up a detox bed and long-term treatment options, urging anyone who can get a face-to-face with Chase to help connect him to support.
That detail matters because it reframes the story. It is not just concern floating around the internet. People with lived experience and resources are trying to convert attention into an actual plan.
The post that fueled the surge, and the complicated aftermath of “help” online
One of the posts that helped accelerate the story across X captured the internet’s familiar pattern: recognition, panic, then thousands of strangers trying to solve something intimate in public.
There is also a caution running through the updates from people close to the situation: money is not automatically help. Werkheiser has said cash alone is not a solution, and Lee has noted the need for structured, accountable support rather than impulsive donation energy.
This is the hard truth underneath the virality. A crowd can amplify a crisis in minutes, but recovery, stability, and consent move at human speed.
The GoFundMe that was shut down and why
As the video traveled, a GoFundMe was created, then later disabled at the request of Chase’s mother, who stressed that he needs medical help rather than direct cash assistance.
This has become a key point in the story: well meaning support can still go sideways when the person at the center is not stable enough to safely receive it.