Officials have allegedly found prescription painkillers in Prince ’s possession and at his home near Minneapolis, according to a Wednesday NBC News report.
It’s currently unclear if the reportedly found painkillers played a role in the music icon’s death. Also according to the report, the county sheriff has asked for the help of the Drug Enforcement Administration in investigating Prince’s death. The DEA’s role will be to determine where the drugs came from, and what prescriptions Prince had obtained.
Variety has reached out to the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating Prince’s death, for comment.
An autopsy for Prince was conducted last Friday, but it will likely be weeks before results of toxicology tests are delivered. A cause of death has yet to be determined. Officials have ruled out suicide and “the rest is under investigation,” said Sheriff Jim Olson at a press conference last Friday. There were no visible signs of foul play.Prince may have suffered an overdose days before his death at the age of 57 last Thursday. His plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Ill., less than a week before he died. His reps said at the time that Prince was struggling with the flu and had to make the landing due to a medical emergency.
TMZ reported, however, that Prince was using the painkiller Percocet to treat hip pain associated with a 2010 surgery. Authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Alex Stedman © 2016 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC