Hayley McNeff, a champion bodybuilder and fitness influencer, has died.

An obituary published Tuesday on Boston.com stated that the lifelong athlete’s death on August 8 was “unexpected but peaceful.”

McNeff was 37.

“Hayley was like a beam of light in this world. She had boundless energy and was very determined to achieve whatever she set out to do,” Hayley’s father, Dave, told PEOPLE. “[Hayley] set her sights on bodybuilding and fitness and achieved the highest success that sector offered. She loved us, and we love Hayley very much. We miss her madly.”

Her family also confirmed to the outlet that McNeff died at her home in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

McNeff, a Concord, Mass. native, graduated from Concord-Carlisle High School and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Massach

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