I remember reading that van wastells team mates were acting like bitches about his drug use, maybe hiding them from him, and that was like the straw that broke the camels back and he suicided. Something like that.
I really hope I don't get shit on for shedding light on this but from what I heard, yes, that's essentially what happened. A few of the people I skated with ran with Van and Mike Anderson so that's how I got all my Krooked/ Spitfire insider shit. I knew from them about his heroin use but everyone was pretty quiet about it because Van Wastell was the fucking man. I had beers with him at a bar a few months before he passed and could tell he was nodding off at the table. This is the story I was told by someone who was pretty close to him:
They were in Germany (I think) and the team (unsure which team, Krooked or whoever he was touring with) tried to get him to quit drugs. Kind of a poor man's intervention except they had no idea what they were doing. Not sure what else he was doing but I know for sure heroin was an issue. They took his stash and left him in his hotel room to go cold-turkey. What I was told is he jumped out of the window and died from that.
I'm not posting this to shit on his name or anything like that. Everything I say should be taken with a grain of salt, given I've only met him a handful of times and the story I heard may have been exaggerated as he had just passed away the week prior.
RIP Van Wastell. It's a god damn shame he left as early as he did. One of my favorite styles on video and amazingly stylish off. Talking BA styling cruising the park.