Little Love Letters. Epstein and Carter were engaged from the mid- to late-1990s, living together in Tesuque, New Mexico but they never married. Prior to Carlene Carter, Howie was engaged to and lived with Laurie June, an actress, model, and legal secretary, in Laurel Canyon, California. They were together from approximately 1979 to 1987. Death On February 23, 2003, Epstein died from complications related to drug use. MTV News reported that Epstein's death was caused by a heroin overdose. He was 47. Investigators were told Epstein had been using heroin. On the day of his death, Howie was driven to St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico by his girlfriend, who described him as "under distress". Epstein was taking antibiotics for an illness and had recently suffered from influenza, stomach problems, and an abscess on his leg, friends said. Additionally, it was reported that he had been extremely distraught over the death of his 16-year-old dog a few days earlier. In later interviews, Tom Petty admitted that Epstein's behavior had become unpredictable: "He was just degenerating on us to the point where we thought keeping Howie in the band was actually doing him more harm than getting rid of him. His personal problems were vast and serious." He was interred at Second Home Cemetery in Greenfield, Wisconsin. Petty wrote the following in an article for Rolling Stone in response to Epstein's death: "... there's a great sadness, because Howie was never not a Heartbreaker. He just got to where he couldn't do it anymore ... It's like you got a tree dying in the backyard. And you're kind of used to the idea that it's dying. But you look out there one day and they cut it down. And you just can't imagine that beautiful tree isn't there anymore." Epstein was survived by his brothers, Craig and Bradley Epstein, and daughter, Jamie Leffler, now a member of indie rock band Dwntwn. Notes External links Howie Epstein at Myspace 1955 births 2003 deaths Deaths by heroin overdose in the United States American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists Record producers from Wisconsin Guitarists from Wisconsin Musicians from Milwaukee Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers members Drug-related deaths in New Mexico American people of Jewish descent Jewish rock musicians American male guitarists People from Tesuque, New Mexico 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians