Prince Autopsy Completed, Medical Examiner’s Office Confirms

Prince’s autopsy has been completed, according to a release from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s office on Friday afternoon.

The release states that the Chief Medical Examiner began the autopsy of Prince Rogers Nelson at 9 a.m. CDT and finished at 1:00 p.m. Results from the autopsy and toxicology scans “may take days and weeks” to process, according to tweets that appear to be from the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office. Prince’s body has been released to his family. 

“This is a tragedy for all of us,” Sheriff Jim Olsen said at a press conference on Friday in Carver County. “To you, Prince Rogers Nelson was a celebrity. To us, he was a community member and a good neighbor. To his family, he is a loved one.” 

At the press conference, Sheriff Olsen said staff members had been unable to contact Prince and went to check on him at his home. Those who responded to the scene called 911 after finding “an unresponsive male in the elevator. CPR was initially started, but was unsuccessful. He was pronounced deceased at 10:07” on Thursday morning. 

Though Sheriff Olsen couldn’t elaborate on certain parts of the investigation, he said there were no obvious signs of trauma on the body at all and there was “no reason to believe this was a suicide.” Authorities declined to discuss whether prescription drugs were found in the musician’s home, or comment on a report of a painkiller overdose that supposedly occurred a week before he died. Prince was last seen alive at 8 p.m. Wednesday night at Paisley Park after being dropped off by an acquaintance.

Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota on Thursday. He was 57.