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Questions remain over the circumstances surrounding Prince’s death
By Andy Malt | Published on Monday 25 April 2016
More details about the circumstances surrounding the death of Prince on Thursday began to emerge over the weekend. However, the question of how he came to die remains unanswered, with the results of a post-mortem that was conducted on Friday still possibly weeks away.
Speaking about the ongoing investigation, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson told reporters that his team wanted to avoid disclosing any information too early, saying: “To you, Prince was a celebrity. To us, he’s a community member and a good neighbour”.
Olson did give some details about the case though, saying that police were not considering the death to be foul play or suicide. Though he would not answer questions about speculation that Prince had suffered a drug overdose.
The last time the musician was seen alive, Olson told reporters, was around 8pm on Wednesday evening, when he was dropped off at his Paisley Park home. He was then found slumped in a lift in the building the next morning at around 9.40am. An emergency call was made and there were attempts to revive him, which were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 10.07am.
The musician had cancelled shows in St Louis shortly before his death. He also cancelled performances in Atlanta earlier this month, citing flu. Though these were quickly rescheduled, and it was these shows that he was returning from when his private jet made an emergency landing in order for him to receive hospital treatment on 15 Apr.
Flight records show that the plane descended 45,000 feet in seventeen minutes in order to land at Quad City international airport in Moline, Illinois, despite only being 48 minutes away from its destination in Minnesota. Prince was taken to hospital, with a spokesperson saying later that he was only admitted for three hours. The plane took off again for its destination ten hours after landing.
Two days later he held a party at Paisley Park, seemingly to show that he was in good health. However, it has been suggested that he was actually aware that he was gravely ill but had refused hospital treatment.
Following the post-mortem on Friday, Prince’s remains were released to his family, and cremated on Saturday, with a private memorial service taking place at Paisley Park.
“A few hours ago, Prince was celebrated by a small group of his most beloved: family, friends and his musicians, in a private, beautiful ceremony to say a loving goodbye”, a spokesperson said in a statement. “Prince’s remains have been cremated and their final storage will remain private. We ask for your blessings and prayers of comfort for his family and close friends at this time”.
The spokesperson added: “The cause of death remains unknown and it will be at least four weeks before we receive the results of the autopsy. An announcement will be made at a future date for a musical celebration”.
