There was no evidence of a crime involved in the death of Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith, and it was not possible to know yet what caused her death, authorities said today.
Ann Nicole Smith pictured with her husband Howard K Stern shortly after the birth of her daughter
Smith, a billionaire's widow, died suddenly yesterday in Hollywood, Florida, at age 39 and her autopsy was performed today.
Seminole tribe Police Chief Charlie Tiger told a news conference there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing in the death.
"At this time we do not make a determination of the cause and the manner of death," Broward County medical examiner Joshua Perper told the news conference.
Officials transport a body reported to be that of Anna Nicole Smith by the NBC television network into the Broward County Medical Examiner's office in Ftort Lauderdale, Florida
Perper did not rule out either drugs or natural causes in Smith's death, and said it would take three to five weeks to examine data from the autopsy.
He said that she had been suffering from stomach flu in the days before her death.
Smith's flamboyant and sometimes troubled life was constant fodder for tabloid gossip and there was immediate speculation after she died - including by her estranged mother - that drugs might have played a role in her death.