Amanda Peterson’s Mom Recalls the ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ Star’s Final Days

“Can't Buy Me Love” star Amanda Peterson's mother, Sylvia Peterson, is speaking out in the wake of her daughter's unexpected death.

Peterson was found dead in her Greeley, CO home on Sunday. She was just 43.

Sylvia told People that the former actress had been doing well. "She was in bed, and she'd had a wonderful day, and we were planning on a dinner the next day, so it was just a very, very big surprise."

A cause of death has not yet been determined, but Sylvia suspects sleep apnea may have contributed.

She fondly remembered her daughter, saying, "She was just so much fun, and she was just great. She had a cute sense of humor [and a] love of history – just a very, very cute person."

Amanda left Hollywood for Colorado in 1994 and never looked back, focusing on graduate school and church, according to her mom. "She went back to school," her mother said, "but she did not ever go back to Hollywood."

"She lived in Greeley and she lived in Fort Collins, and pretty much just continued in graduate work and in studying in that kind of thing. She was very involved with her church work."