Jennifer Aniston's 'Abandoned' Mother Nancy Dow Dies At 79

Jennifer Aniston's estranged mother, Nancy Dow, passed away at the age of 79 on Wednesday, May 25, RadarOnline.com Online has learned.

Aniston confirmed the news last night, releasing a statement to the press.

"It is with great sadness that my brother John Melick and I announce the passing of our mother Nancy Dow," the actress said. "She was 79 years old and passed peacefully surrounded by family and friends after enduring a long illness. We ask that our family's privacy be respected as we grieve our loss."

As RadarOnline.com readers know, Dow's health had taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, and the former model was even hospitalized last weekend.

According to a neighbor living in Dow's cramped Toluca Lake, Calif., apartment building, four paramedics rushed to her unit just after midnight Sunday evening. According to the witness, Dow "was close to death" at the time.

"Her hands were curled up to her face and her skin was grey," said another source. "She was wheeled out then very late at night at 1:30 a.m. On Monday morning, all the lights were on in the apartment and the door was wide open."

Aniston has insisted in the past that she was never close to her "unforgiving" mom because Dow "was very critical of me. Because she was a model, she was gorgeous, stunning. I wasn't. I never was."

And, as RadarOnline.com reported, the mother and daughter's feud only ratcheted up after Dow published a tell-all book on Aniston's life in 1999 titled From Mother and Daughter to Friends: A Memoir.

"It's been an extremely distant relationship," a neighbor told RadarOnline.com after Dow's hospitalization. "Jen just pays the bills and that's it. In all my years here, I've seen her here twice."

"Nancy is really somewhat abandoned," added the neighbor.