Houston Death: Unconscious, Underwater in Tub
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Updated: 1:20 PM Feb 13, 2012
Houston Death: Unconscious, Underwater in Tub
Beverly Hills police say Whitney Houston was underwater, apparently unconscious when found.
Posted: 9:52 AM Feb 13, 2012
Reporter: Associated Press
Email Address: news@kolotv.com
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Bobbi Kristina Brown, daughter of Whitney Houston, rushed to LA hospital (February 12, 2012)
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Beverly Hills police say Whitney Houston was underwater, apparently unconscious when found.

The singer was found Saturday by a member of her personal staff at approximately 3:30 p.m. She was pulled from the tub by members of her staff, and hotel security was promptly notified, Lt. Mark Rosen said.

Whitney Houston's life of glorious song and unnerving self-destruction apparently ended in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Grammy weekend, but it could be weeks before investigators know exactly why she died.

Further details of Houston's death are not being released to preserve the integrity of the investigation, he said.

"As of right now, it's not a criminal investigation," Rosen told a news conference. "We have concluded our portion of the investigation at the hotel."

There were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston's body, but officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they have toxicology results, which will likely take weeks to obtain.

"We do not know yet and when we find out we will be in contact with be Beverly Hills PD," Winter said Monday. "But first we'll be in contact with the family and give them our findings."

Security holds on autopsy results are used in some high-profile Los Angeles cases, with Michael Jackson's results being withheld for weeks while detectives pieced together the circumstances of his death in June 2009. Toxicology results are frequently necessary before the coroner will release an official cause of death.

The body, meanwhile, remained at the coroner's office Monday.

"The family is making arrangements," Winter said. "I don't know when the family is going to have her body picked up. But they are making arrangements and sometimes it takes a couple days."

Two people who have spoken with Whitney Houston's family say the singer's body will be taken home to New Jersey late Monday for a funeral to be held at week's end.

The two people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak for the family and funeral arrangements weren't complete.

The two say Houston's family has raised the possibility of holding a wake Thursday and funeral Friday at Newark's Prudential Center, which can seat about 18,000.

The 48-year-old pop star was found dead in her Los Angeles hotel
Saturday.

The two people say funeral arrangements are being made by Newark's Whigham Funeral Home, which handled the 2003 funeral of
Houston's father.

A woman at the funeral home says she can't comment.

A member of Houston's entourage found the 48-year-old singer unresponsive in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, just hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.

The Grammys themselves were in part a memorial to Houston, a six-time winner. LL Cool J introduced a clip near the start of the show of a glowing Houston singing her signature ballad, a cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."

Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder were among other performers who
praised Houston and Jennifer Hudson capped the tributes with an
emotional version of "I Will Always Love You" that ended with a personal note: "Whitney, we love you." Houston's most famous song
was the most downloaded single for much of Sunday on iTunes.

Meanwhile, Houston's daughter was transported by ambulance to a Los Angeles hospital Sunday morning and later released. A source
close to the family who did not want to speak given the sensitivity of the matter said she was treated and released for stress and anxiety. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, who is Houston's daughter from her marriage to singer Bobby Brown, had accompanied her mother to several pre-Grammy Awards events last week.

"At this time, we ask for privacy, especially for my daughter, Bobbi Kristina," Bobby Brown wrote in a statement released about an hour after she was transported from the hotel. "I appreciate all of the condolences that have been directed towards my family and I at this most difficult time."

A sensation from her very first album, Houston was one of the world's best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. She awed millions with soaring, but disciplined vocals rooted in gospel and polished for the masses, a bridge between the earthy passion of her godmother, Aretha Franklin, and the bouncy pop of her cousin, Dionne Warwick.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she became
a rare black actress with box office appeal, starring in such hits as "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Texas minister and producer on Houston's final film project, a re-make of the 1970s release "Sparkle," said he saw no signs she was having any substance issues. He said Houston was a complete professional and moved the cast and crew to tears two months ago when she sang the gospel hymn "Her Eyes on the Sparrow" for a scene shot in Detroit.

"There was no evidence in working with her on `Sparkle' that there was any struggle in her life," Jakes said Sunday. "She just left a deep impression on everybody."

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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