No ‘obvious signs of trauma’ in Prince death: Sheriff

There were “no obvious signs of trauma” on Prince’s body and, at this point, “no reason to believe” the legendary singer committed suicide before he was found dead Thursday, the Carver County Sheriff told reporters Friday.

Sheriff Jim Olson said detectives were still in the early stages of their investigation, but assured fans that his department would conduct a careful investigation to piece together the facts that lead to the beloved artist’s death.

He also cautioned that the investigation of an unwitnessed death was routine and did not necessarily suggest authorities felt foul play was a factor.

“There should be no inference taken from that,” he said.

Olson said staff at Prince’s Paisley Park estate went to the home after they were unable to reach the musician by phone Monday morning. When they arrived, they told police they found the singer, wearing a shirt and pants, unresponsive in the elevator, stopped at the first floor.

Investigators arrived and performed CPR, but Prince was pronounced dead at the scene by 10:07 a.m.

Olson told reporters that while there were no calls to the estate in the past year involving Prince directly, police often went to the sprawling home and recording studio for incidents related to events held there.

“Prince does some concerts sometimes and get-togethers and so on, so it’s not unusual for us to receive calls at Paisley Park itself,” he said. “There was nothing that I was aware of that involved Prince directly, at his apartment.”

Prince’s family and friends have been “very cooperative,” Olson added.

Prince nearly overdosed on the painkiller percocet just six days before he died Thursday, prompting the emergency landing of his private plane, according to a report in TMZ. The pop legend was on his way to the final show of his “Piano & A Microphone” tour in Atlanta on April 14, the New York Daily News reported.

The pills were reportedly prescribed to help mitigate chronic hip pain Prince experienced after surgery six years ago. His entourage reportedly told first responders about the drug use, prompting them to use a “save shot” to revive the singer.

A representative at the time told TMZ that the star was battling a flu for several weeks.

Olson noted that, while his officers all carry the anti-overdose medication Narcan, it was not employed when his officers responded to the call at Paisley Park Thursday.