The autopsy of Prince took three hours Friday in a Ramsey, Minnesota, morgue as investigators searched for the cause of the music legend's sudden death. His body was released to his family Friday afternoon, according to a coroner's spokeswoman.
The body of Prince Rogers Nelson has left Midwest Medical Examiners office and been released to his family.
-- Midwest Medical Exam (@MidwestMedExam) April 22, 2016
A conclusion on his cause of death are pending the return of toxicology results, she said. The medical examiner ordered a "full spectrum" of tests about what drugs might be in Prince's blood and organ tissues, she said.
"There were no obvious signs of trauma on the body at all," Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said. "We have no reason to be live at this point that this was a suicide."
Prince was home alone until someone who had been unable to reach him Thursday morning went to his Paisley Park studio and found him unresponsive in an elevator, the sheriff said. He was last seen seen alive when someone dropped him off at home at about 8 p.m. Wednesday night, the sheriff said. He was fully dressed when he was found in the elevator on the first floor, he said.
Results of the exam conducted by chief medical examiner Dr. A. Quinn Strobl will not be made public until "all results are obtained," which could take "weeks," according to a statement from the Midwest Medical Examiner's office.
The autopsy on Prince Rogers Nelson completed at 1:00 pm CDT. Results are pending. Body will be released to family. pic.twitter.com/mr5dzHO3WX
-- Midwest Medical Exam (@MidwestMedExam) April 22, 2016
"As part of the complete exam, relevant information regarding Mr. Nelson's medical and social history will be gathered. Anything which could be relevant to the investigation will be taken into consideration." the statement said. "Gathering the results will take several days and the results of the full toxicology scan could likely take weeks."
Please see attached, incl is a photo of Chief Medical Examiner A. Quinn Strobl of Midwest Medical Examiners Office pic.twitter.com/aBfzB2ZjhX
-- Midwest Medical Exam (@MidwestMedExam) April 22, 2016
The Carver County, Minnesota, sheriff will hold a news conference Friday at 3pCT/4pET to discuss the investigation.
Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, was found unresponsive in an elevator at his home-studio complex known as Paisly Park Thursday morning. Paramedics were unabe to revive him and he was pronounced dead 25 minutes later.
Read the full transcript of the 911 call
Celebrity news website TMZ is quoting undentified sources saying that the medical emergency that Prince suffered during a flight a week earlier was an overdose of Percocet and not a case of the flu, his publicist claimed. The TMZ report said paramedics used a "save drug" at the Moline airport to counter the powerful opioid's affect. His private jet made an unplanned stop in Moline while on the flight from Atlanta, where he had just performed, to his home in Minnesota.
