Prince Likely Dead for Six Hours Before His Body Was Found in Elevator
As details continue to emerge about the death of Prince, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a responding paramedic told staff members, law enforcement officers and others at the scene that the legendary musician was likely dead for at least six hours before his body was discovered in a Paisley Park elevator in April.
Federal investigators are still attempting to piece together details about the fallen icon's death. Both autopsy and toxicology results are pending, though The Star Tribune reports that a local physician had been treating Prince in the weeks before he died for withdrawal symptoms from an opioid addiction.
Prince reported used Percocet to relieve his ongoing hip pain and had hip replacement surgery in 2010. Sources with knowledge of the investigation told the newspaper that although he appeared calm after his emergency landing in Moline, Ill., following his last Atlanta concert on April 15 for opioid overdose, "Prince grew increasingly agitated in the following days."
Reportedly, one staff member sought advice from someone in New York who had worked with the musician the day before his death, placing the call at 6AM. Later that day, Prince was given an intravenous treatment at a local hospital.
It's not clear whether that visit came before or after the doctor treating him for withdraw systems made a house call that evening. Sources say that Prince's staff members were so worried about the musician's health, they sought help from Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, the same woman who helped him recover rights to his music from Warner Bros.
According to insiders, it was Ellis-Lamkins who introduced Prince to Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a pain and addiction specialist in Mill Valley, Calif., who was supposed to help the star with his painkiller addiction.
“I cared deeply about him, and I am not ready to speak publicly,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. “I also know how much he valued his privacy and want to respect his wishes."
The investigation into how Prince died is still ongoing.