'Bachelorette' star Julien Hug Committed Suicide, Say Family and Friends

The shocking death of Julien Hug, a former contestant on Jillian Harris’ season of ‘The Bachelorette,’ remains a mystery but his friend is claiming it was a suicide!

Although authorities are “handling the incident as a death investigation where no foul play is suspected,” his friend Tom Ulich says he was told that Hug took his own life!

He told RadarOnline: “I’m completely in shock. When my FBI friends told me Julien shot himself in the head, I fell to my knees in disbelief.”

People.com reports that Julien’s family is now also backing the suicide claim, saying he even left a suicide letter. Bertrand and Denise Hug said in a statement, “Our son meant the world to us and this came as a complete shock,” they say. “We are beyond devastated and completely distraught. … What we saw was his thirst for life with fast cars, motorcycles and his love of skydiving.”

Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Borja said in a statement that Hug’s body was found in the remote Pinyon Pines area of California off Highway 74 around 11am on Nov 3 and that no foul play was suspected, although he did not confirm a cause of death yet. Popeater.com said Riverside County Sheriff Deputy Melissa Nieburger told the press in a statement that the body was found in an area that “you would need to hike into.”

An official cause of death is pending a coroner’s investigation. We’re so sorry for Julien’s parents, Bertrand and Denise. What a devastating loss.

Ashley Joy Parker

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It certainly seams strange. This guy was blessed with everything. He was tall and good looking, and had a wonderful perfect head of hair, and was very personable, these qualities alone would be enough to give any guy a sense of well being and want to go on living. On top of that he was intelligent, well educated a successful business man, wealthy and famous and indulged in great hobbies such as sky diving and fast cars which only the wealthy could afford and popular with women. Strange and sad but not unusual to to see the guy or girl who had everything going for them, hit the self destruct button. Cases like this have happened many times in history.

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Interesting. You are the first person who has shared this type of feedback. What has been reported so far does not seem to add up. Thanks for your input.

This story about Julien Hug is getting stranger all of the time. When did the family get the suicide note? Was it left at their house in Rancho Santa Fe on Sunday night when Julien Hug apparently departed for Palm Desert in his Jeep. Or was it mailed to them by Julien after he left his parents’ house? How long did his parents have the suicide note in their possession? Did they know he was intending to commit suicide when they filed the missing person report when he failed to show up for work at their Augusta Modern restaurant in Palm Desert on Monday morning?

There have also been conflicting reports about the timeline in this matter. It was widely reported that the father stated that Julien’s phone “went dead” when he was on Highway 74 enroute to Palm Desert on Monday and that nobody “heard from him since.” Did he ever arrive in Palm Desert on Sunday night or early Monday morning after midnight. It was reported that he had been living in Palm Desert for the past 3 months and was visiting his parents’ home in Rancho Santa Fe on Sunday.

RadarOnline.com has also reported that Julien was living in a “beautiful condo” with live in girl friend Jennifer (Jen) Bell in San Diego for the past 2 years which they confirmed in a detailed interveiw with Jen who said Julien was “so misunderstood.” No clarification was made as to whether she was also planning to move to Palm Desert nor whether she had any contact with him during the weekend but she stated that she and Julien were planning to get married. Jen stated to RadarOnline.com taht “I had two of the best years of my life with him. They have been nothing but pure happiness to me.” Yet, that period obviously included the time in 2009 when he was on the Bachelorette show trying to become the object of affection of another woman.

It is possible that Julien arrived in Palm Desert on Sunday night or in the early hours of Monday morning after driving from San Diego. If so, he then drove up back up highway 74 which intersections Highway 111 at the center of Palm Desert and continued about 17 miles up that windy road in his jeep and into the Pinyon Pines area where he drove as far out as he could on a fire access road into the forest. He could have also done on his way into Palm Desert via the back road approach of Highway 74 which is also known as the Palms to Pines Highway, but it is highly unlikely that he would have done that on Sunday night or in the darkness before the light on Monday morning, so it is quite likely he drove up to Pinyon Pines rather than going to work on Monday morning at his family’s Augusta Modern restaurant.

As to the police, it is very strange that the initial report on Wednesday or Thursday released to the public did not describe him as being found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head if in fact that is the way he was found. It is also very strange that the police said nothing about him being suspected of committing suicide if his family was in possession of a suicide note and informed the police as to that matter. It is also strange that they came out Friday and stated that there was “no evidence of foul play” as suicide itself is a crime and certainly foul play itself and not death from natural causes such as an accidental fall.

No description has been given as to where Julien lived for the past 3 months in Palm Desert nor as to whether anyone such as neighbors saw him on Sunday night or Monday.

The big question is, of course, why Julien would suddenly decide to commit suicide without either his parents whom he was in close contact with and his “live in girlfriend” Jen having any indications by their own statements that was even having any particular problems.

Knew him and know people that worked with him. Everyone hated him and thought he was a nasty, spoiled, and shallow brat. People that will read this must admit that to themselves. Now that he’s dead–and it is a true tragedy–everyone backs off and talks about how great he was. He wasn’t great. It’s a shame he’s dead, but don’t let that mask the fact that he was not a good person (of course, to his customers at the restaurant, he seduced them). I blame his parents, who also keep up a show and cover the ugliness that humans do. But I may be wrong. Judge for yourself, but please don’t compromise your true feelings just because someone is dead. Stand up for yourselves and call a spade a spade.