News broke early Sunday morning that Glee star, Cory Monteith, had been found dead in his Vancouver hotel room. While foul play was ruled out at the time, his body was sent to the coroner for a toxicology report. Monteith, a struggling addict since the age of nineteen, was confirmed by The British Columbia Coroners Service to have died from a lethal combination of alcohol and heroin.
The coroner stated that Monteith’s death is not being treated as a suicide, stating “It should be noted that at this point there is no evidence to suggest Mr. Monteith’s death was anything other than a most-tragic accident.”
Monteith rose to fame in 2009 for his portrayal of Finn Hudson, the jock turned a cappella sensation in Fox’s hit series Glee. Monteith enjoyed both an onscreen and off-screen romantic relationship with fellow Glee star, Lea Michelle. It is unclear how the show will broach the subject of his death.
A self-described “tall, awkward, canadian, actor, drummer, person” on his Twitter bio, he was seemingly light-hearted, outgoing, and genuinely loved. Though despite his outer appearance and jovial manner, Monteith battled inner demons for more than a decade. A high school dropout who worked odd jobs to make ends meet before landing acting gigs, Cory Monteith struggled severely with substance abuse issues. Following an intervention led by his mother and close family friends, he first entered rehab at age nineteen.
More than a decade later, Monteith sought help for the second time. In March of 2013, the media reported that he had checked himself into a rehabilitation clinic for substance addiction; Cory’s agent confirmed the reports. A little over a month later, he had completed the program and seemed to be back on track.
The night before his death, Monteith is seen on hotel surveillance cameras hanging out with fellow guests, though he entered his room alone. When his death was first reported, police reports stated that there was no evidence of illicit drug use in his room. It is unclear if anything new was recovered from the hotel. Police reported that those seen with Monteith, a man and two women, cooperated with the investigation. They have not, however, spoken to the media at this time.
As has become all too common, a bright young man with a promising future was lost all too soon. Monteith was thirty-one at the time of his death.
[via USA Today]
Image via Associated Press