We're sad to report that Carla Morasca, 48, of Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, died peacefully on Wednesday, November 19, 2003. Morasca was the mother of Jenna Morasca, the 22-year-old winner of this spring's Survivor: The Amazon series who frequently mentioned her mother's battle with cancer as one of her primary motivations for competing for the program's $1,000,000 grand prize.

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Besides her husband Michael and Jenna, Mrs. Morasca also leaves her mother Terri (Ferraro) and father Gilio John DaPra; her brothers Dennis DaPra and Dan DaPra; sisters Diane Pierrard and Annette Lewis; and several nieces and nephews. Mrs. Morasca enjoyed cooking and won several awards with her cooking skills. She was also an avid volunteer in local schools and her community. The family suggests that memorial donations be made to The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, P. O. Box 650309, Dallas, TX 75265.

It is unknown what impact Mrs. Morasca's passing has had on Jenna's suspected participation in the currently-filming Survivor: All-Stars series. A similar tragedy occurred during the filming of 2002's Survivor: Thailand series when Thomas W. Vance, the father of contestant Tanya Vance was killed in a traffic accident while filming of the series was underway. At the time, CBS made arrangements for Tanya, who had already been eliminated from the game, to return from Thailand and be with her family during her time of grief.

While Jenna was far from the most endearing contestant to appear on the series, we offer Jenna and the Morasca family our condolences and are very sorry for their terrible loss.