"We Saw It Coming"

News of Heath Ledger's death has shaken friends of the actor.

"This is terrible and I'm in shock," an anonymous friend of Ledger tells Usmagazine.com "But to tell you the truth... we saw it coming...Heath has gone though a rough road of trying to get sober."

"Things were very dark," the source says. "His one joy was Matilda." Matilda (pictured with Ledger above) is his 2-year-old daughter with ex-wife Michelle Williams. They split in September. "Everything else was misery for him," adds the source.

Early reports stated that Ledger, 28, was found dead, at Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment; that statement has been retracted.