Things Found At Celebrity Death Scenes

The following article contains references to substance misuse, mental health struggles, suicide, violence, and eating disorders.

The widespread availability of celebrity death scene photos may seem like a symptom of the technological age, but in reality, the celeb death scene predates the advent of the internet. Since the Golden Age of Hollywood, the public's thirst for access to the private lives of the rich and famous has extended to uncovering information about their deaths. As such, there has been a morbid fascination with witnessing the aftermath of a celebrity's demise. Print media, for instance, published photos of Buddy Holly's death scene following his fatal plane crash in 1959. Now, with social media and technological ease of access to information, the dissemination of celebrity death scene photos is more prevalent than ever. 

A death scene can take many forms. Iconic actor Lupe Vélez, for instance, was intent on having a beautiful final moment, reportedly getting glammed up and dressing in her silk fineries before dying, per AnOther magazine. Of course, Vélez's story is the exception to the rule, and the majority of posthumous settings are far from pretty. In many cases, a death scene can end up offering more questions than answers, as an A-lister leaves behind a variety of mysterious mementos, either incidental or suggestive of an uncanny message from beyond the grave. In other cases, however, a seemingly innocuous scene of death can quickly become subject to sinister speculation. From gory trinkets to ghostly toys, let's take a deep — and oh so dark — dive into things found at celebrity death scenes.

Before Adele, there was Amy Winehouse, the soulful songstress whose refreshingly down to earth, unpretentious personality charmed the public. Like so many women in the spotlight, Winehouse frequently generated headlines for her personal life as opposed to her innumerable talents. Of particular media interest was her substance misuse and eating disorder, which became tabloid fodder. "She craved normality. The biggest thing that f***ed Amy up was being famous," her best friend, Tyler James, told The Times. Moreover, the singer was mocked relentlessly in the media.

Throughout the aughts, Winehouse was in and out of treatment and faced various legal issues. In June 2011, she canceled her tour due to ongoing personal issues. Just one month later, the singer was found dead in her London apartment. She was 27. Her cause of death was ruled as alcohol poisoning, though her brother insisted to The Guardian that she died from her eating disorder. As the Daily Mail reported, the singer was found dead with a laptop nearby; she had been watching YouTube videos of herself before dying. Winehouse's death scene is symbolic of a past life that was inevitably coming to an end, her glory days so disparate from the person her myriad struggles had led her to become.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

If you need help with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

We lost far too many celebrities in 2022, and Bob Saget was sadly among those who died. The "Full House" patriarch's death was sudden and unexpected. The comedian had performed a set in Florida the night before he died and appeared to be in good health and high spirits, according to audience members who chatted to E! News. "Everything seemed great," one such observer said. "He absolutely rocked the house. And I think he really felt that." Tragically, Saget was found dead in his hotel room on January 9, 2022. It has been determined that he died of a catastrophic brain injury, possibly caused by a fall or accidental knock on the head in the bathroom, per People. The injury likely occurred shortly before Saget went to bed, with the comic falling asleep and never regaining consciousness.

According to a report by People, on the hotel nightstand, there were a few necessities, including a cell phone, a pair of glasses, various toiletries, and bottled water. These items, such ordinary objects of everyday life, are symbolic of the ephemeral nature of existence, proving that we never truly know when the end is near. Just months before his death, Saget addressed his mortality on the podcast "Til This Day with Radio Rahim," remarking, "I guess therapy, having three kids, watching people pass away in the last few years, mortality, all that stuff, has fortunately changed me."

A versatile performer who was as much at home playing Truman Capote as he was depicting a vile crank caller in "Happiness," Philip Seymour Hoffman always appeared the unassuming type. But behind closed doors, he was enduring personal struggles, as exemplified by his scene of death.

In 2014, the acting world lost another great when Hoffman died suddenly, aged 46. The actor was found dead in his apartment with a needle in his arm, leading to speculation that he may have overdosed, per the New York Post. Investigators also found 70 clear envelopes with drugs inside, and other drug paraphernalia, such as a burnt spoon. Eight years earlier, Hoffman candidly discussed his past substance misuse in an interview with "60 Minutes," stating that he was sober. "I got sober when I was 22 years old. ... You get panicked. ... I was 22 and I got panicked for my life," he said.

The scene of death painted a particularly tragic portrait, one that he shielded from his loved ones. Indeed, those closest to Hoffman thought he was sober. "I saw him last week, and he was clean and sober, his old self," the actor's friend, David Bar Katz, who found his body, told The New York Times. "I really thought this chapter was over." Such admissions make his death scene all the more devastating.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

The demise of the people's princess remains one of the most shocking celebrity deaths in history. On that fateful day in 1997, Princess Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, were both killed in a car crash in Paris while attempting to escape an onslaught of paparazzi photographers, per The Guardian. Their chauffeur, Henri Paul, was also killed.

Lead investigator Martine Monteil analyzed the death scene for clues as to what happened to Lady Di in her final moments, per the documentary "Investigating Diana: Death in Paris" (via the Daily Mail). In doing so, she found something heart-rending. "We saw signs of braking," Monteil explained. "Pieces of red light from another car. On the side of the car were traces of paint. I was obsessed with finding things ... I even found some tiny pearls. They belonged to the Princess." Diana was famed for her love of pearls, so the image of them scattered across the scene, sundered from her neck, is harrowing to say the least. But another, equally devastating, piece of jewelry was found at the scene.

As the Daily Mail reported, she was found wearing a Bulgari ring that Al-Fayed had gifted her just a couple of days earlier. Recalling the moment he was handed the ring following Diana's death, her butler, Paul Burrell, wrote, "I know she was wearing it when she died because there was dry blood among the tiny diamond." The bloodied jewel is, perhaps, the ultimate symbol of a fallen princess.

Chris Farley gained legions of fans in the '80s and '90s as a breakout star of "Saturday Night Live." Along with BFF and future sitcom lead David Spade, he also starred in the comedy movies "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep." Unfortunately, Farley struggled for many years with substance misuse and mental illness.

In his final days, Farley roused the concern of his friends, as his behavior grew increasingly erratic, per Entertainment Weekly. Confronted about his notable decline in health, he simply replied, "I want to live fast and die young." He died on December 18, 1997. 

On the day he died, Farley had spent the evening with a stripper named Heidi Hauser. Speaking to the tabloid Globe, Hauser claimed that after a night of partying together, Farley passed out on the ground and she snapped a photo of him, which she provided to the tabloid. Hauser told the outlet that he was breathing when she left, though he would be found dead later that day by his brother. The 33-year-old's death was ruled a drug overdose. According to Rolling Stone, investigators found Farley wearing nothing but pajama bottoms, containers of white powder and antidepressants nearby. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357)

The passing of the undisputed King of Pop sent shockwaves across the world. Just weeks away from embarking on a residency at London's o2 Arena in 2009, Michael Jackson looked set to be launching a remarkable comeback to the stage. That would all change, however, when his life was cut short.

In the lead-up to his comeback, Jackson was struggling with severe insomnia. His sleeping difficulties reached their pinnacle when he remained mostly awake for 60 days straight, per CNN. Desperate to finally get a full night's sleep, Jackson reportedly begged his physician, Conrad Murray, to prescribe propofol, a drug commonly used as a general anesthetic as opposed to a sleep aid, per the Los Angeles Times. After taking propofol and benzodiazepines, the King of Pop died on June 25, 2009. Murray was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to jail time, per CNN.

Per TMZ, Jackson's death scene is at once haunting and bizarre. The singer was found with an IV drip, numerous tubes of Benoquin (a cream commonly used to treat conditions such as vitiligo, which Jackson had), a cardiology book, an oxygen tank, and, most bizarrely, a Victorian-style vintage doll. Often described as a real-life Peter Pan, Jackson reportedly used to sleep next to the doll. The object thus encapsulates the apparent duality of the singer — that of an innocent in the eyes of his fans, and an alleged predator to his accusers.

Best known for her iconic appearance in Jean-Luc Godard's "Breathless," American actor Jean Seberg was a highly influential figure of the 1960s. A passionate supporter of the Black Panthers, she became public enemy number one for the FBI, who relentlessly targeted the star. Subsequently, her career faltered after the FBI began propagating unfounded rumors about her being pregnant with the child of a Black Panther member in 1970. Thereafter began a tragic downward spiral from which she would never recover.

The stress led to Seberg (who was actually pregnant at the time, though not by a Black Panther) giving birth prematurely to a baby girl, who sadly died just two days later. Distraught, the actor attempted suicide several times in the years that followed, reportedly on every anniversary of her daughter's death. In 1979, Seberg's fourth husband, Ahmed Hasni, told authorities that she'd gone missing from their Paris home. Ten days later, her body was found in the back of her car. She had died by suicide, aged 40. The death scene was a highly disturbing sight: the actor's decomposing body was wrapped in a blanket. By her side were a bottle of water, pills, and a letter to her son. 

Although her death was ruled a suicide, Seberg's supporters remain skeptical, suggesting that there was foul play involved due to her political activities. "Forty years later, a sign was placed on her grave in Montparnasse saying, 'Jean, your killers are still around,'" author Alain Mamou-Mani, who penned a book about Seberg's death, told the Los Angeles Times in 2020.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

Peaches Geldof was the daughter of "Live Aid" founder Bob Geldof and fellow TV host Paula Yates. Aged 11, Peaches sadly lost her mom to a drug overdose. Tragically, her own demise would mirror her mother's. In her final interview, Peaches told The Spectator (via HuffPost) that people expected her to die young like her mom. "That's the worst thing, the preconceptions. ... I'm going to die like my mother, she's going to end up like her mother," the journalist said. But Peaches left the interview on a hopeful note, stating that motherhood — she had two infant sons with her musician husband, Thomas Cohen, at the time of her death — had positively impacted her life.

In April 2014, Peaches was found dead by her husband. She was just 25. An inquest confirmed that, like her mom, she had died of an overdose of heroin, a drug from which she had previously managed to get clean before sadly experiencing a relapse. By her body, police found a syringe cap, a pair of black tights which had likely been knotted to facilitate injecting heroin, a burnt dessert spoon, and bags of high potency heroin. 

In an interview with Bild, Cohen said that his wife was a wonderful mother in the early months of her sons' lives, but suffered from a pervasive feeling of emptiness that she felt could only be filled by heroin. "I think she thought the children would fill the gap. ... That's the terrible thing: you're feeding your body something that will kill you," he reflected.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Grunge trailblazer Chris Cornell found fame in the '90s as the sultry frontman of Soundgarden. Later, in the 2000s, he formed supergroup Audioslave alongside members of Rage Against the Machine. Sadly, Cornell struggled with depression and anxiety throughout his all too brief life. In a 2006 interview with SPIN, he revealed that his mental health struggles were exacerbated by a bad PCP experience when he was 14, resulting in unrelenting panic attacks. "I became more or less agoraphobic because I'd have flashbacks," Cornell explained. "From 14 to 16, I didn't have any friends. I stayed home most of the time. Up till then life was pretty great. ... Suddenly, I felt like I couldn't do anything."

In May 2017, Cornell played his final live show with Soundgarden in Detroit. Those present at the concert noted that the usually effervescent frontman didn't quite seem himself, reportedly appearing weak and forgetting entire verses to his songs. By the following morning, he was found dead in his hotel room, aged 52. His death was ruled a suicide. 

The musician's scene of death offered some insight into his state of mind that night: police found Cornell's famous sunglasses atop a messy bed, a guitar, and some prescription bottles, including anti-anxiety medication. The latter finding was at the center of much contention, with Cornell's widow, Vicky, claiming that the anti-anxiety drugs played a role in his suicide. Subsequently, she sued her husband's doctor for prescribing the drugs. The case was settled privately in 2021.

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline​ by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.

The untimely death of "Glee" star Cory Monteith remains a tragic reminder of the show's supposed curse, with two more stars — Mark Salling and Naya Rivera — dying young since. Moreover, Monteith was an example of a functioning person living with substance misuse; that is, someone whose outward appearance (in the actor's case, the entertainment industry's charming boy next door) does not fit stereotypical depictions of what a so-called "addict" might look like.

In July 2013, Monteith was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room after he failed to check out on time. He was 31. It was later confirmed that he died of an overdose of heroin and alcohol, though other substances were also found in his system. The coroner's report, obtained by E! News, revealed that the actor had a long history of substance misuse. He did, however, have a recent period of recovery. Subsequently, the coroner noted that this may have contributed to his fatal relapse, due to his body's tolerance to opioids diminishing after a spell of sobriety. At the scene of death, authorities found drug paraphernalia, such as spoons and needles, as well as bottles of alcohol.

At the time of his death, Monteith was dating his "Glee" co-star, Lea Michele, who was devastated by the loss. In an interview with Elle shortly after the tragedy, Michele said that she did not want people to remember the couple's romance as one blighted by substance misuse. "We had a full life, and that had lots of different details that will be ours forever, for only us to know," she said.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Sadly, Prince's death was one of many celeb deaths in 2016 that came as a major shock to fans. In April that year, he was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park recording studio at the age of 57. At the time, Prince was known to have been dealing with influenza, having had to cancel a number of shows. 

A coroner's report later concluded that Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose after taking Vicodin laced with the deadly substance. "In all likelihood, Prince had no idea he was taking a counterfeit pill that could kill him," Minnesota attorney Mark Metz explained, per NBC News. "Others around Prince also likely did not know that the pills were counterfeit containing fentanyl."

At the death scene — the Paisley Park compound — there were all manner of unusual mementos that highlighted the singer's apparent state of mind in his final days. Investigators found various high-end skincare, makeup, and hair dye products on a messy dresser, a bag containing $5,400 in cash, prescription medications from Walgreens and CVS, and a vault with drugs and files inside. Prince's death scene exemplified the apparent duality of the singer: one the one hand, he was evidently preoccupied with retaining his youthful good looks; on the other, he was reportedly reliant on drugs to enable him to continue to perform and fulfill the needs of his myriad fans. Indeed, in his final Rolling Stone interview, conducted two years before his death, the outlet noted that Prince appeared entirely ageless, but nonetheless seemed noticeably fatigued and malnourished.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).