By JILL LAWLESS -
Associated Press
AP Photo/Sean Dempsey-pa
An
autopsy on singer Amy Winehouse Monday failed to determine what killed the 27-year-old
star, leaving fans and family with a weeks-long wait for the results of
toxicology tests.
Winehouse's devastated parents visited mourners
outside her north London home to thank them for their support, ahead of a private family
funeral that could be held as early as Tuesday.
The singer, who had struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years, was found dead Saturday at
home by a member of her security team, who called an ambulance. It arrived too
late to save her.
The Metropolitan Police said Monday that a forensic
post mortem "did not establish a formal cause of death and we await the
results of further toxicology tests." Those are expected to take two to
four weeks.
An inquest into the singer's death was opened and
adjourned at London's St. Pancras Coroner's Court. During the two-minute
hearing, an official read out the name, birth date and address of Winehouse,
described as "a divorced lady living at Camden Square NW1."
"She was a singer songwriter at the time of her death and was identified by her
family here at St. Pancras this morning,"
said coroner's officer Sharon Duff.
Duff said the scene of Winehouse's death "was
investigated by police and determined non-suspicious."
In Britain, inquests
are held to establish the facts whenever someone dies violently or in
unexplained circumstances. Assistant Deputy Coroner Suzanne Greenaway said
Winehouse's inquest would resume on Oct. 26.
The singer's father,
mother and brother visited her home on Monday, stopping to inspect the mounds
of bouquets, candles and handwritten notes across the road from the Victorian
house.
Her father, Mitch
Winehouse, thanked mourners for their tributes.
"I can't tell
you what this means to us — it really is making this a lot easier for us,"
he said.
"We're
devastated and I'm speechless but thanks for coming."
The singer's mother,
Janis, was in tears as she examined the flowers, candles, vodka bottles, flags,
drawings and handwritten cards left by neighbors, fans and well-wishers. Many
of the offerings expressed the same sentiment: "What a waste."
"I'll remember
her as a troubled soul," said fan Ethna Rouse, who brought her 4-year-old
son to leave a bouquet. "Like many artists in the world — they are
tortured souls, and that's where the talent comes from."
The singer had
battled her demons in public, too often making headlines for erratic behavior,
destructive relationships and abortive performances.
But she was
remembered fondly by her neighbors in Camden, the creative but gritty
neighborhood where she lived on and off for years.
"She was too
young to die and too talented, and too beautiful," said Peggy Conlon,
landlady of the Dublin Castle pub, where Winehouse occasionally stopped for a
drink. "She's sorely missed by everyone, not one person had a bad word to
say about that kid."
Last month, Winehouse
canceled her European comeback tour after she swayed and slurred her way through
barely recognizable songs in her first show in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Booed and jeered off stage, she flew home and her management said she would
take time off to recover.
Her last public appearance came three days before her
death, when she briefly joined her goddaughter, singer Dionne Bromfield, on
stage at The Roundhouse in Camden, near her home.
Actor Russell Brand, a former drug addict, wrote a
lengthy tribute in which he urged the media and public to change the way
addiction is perceived — "not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as
a disease that will kill."
"Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the
disease of addiction," he wrote. "Addiction is a serious disease; it
will end with jail, mental institutions or death."
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