preliminary autopsy results show houston drowned in her hotel bathtub with cocaine in her system and that heart disease was a contributing factor. theresa garcia reports. ♪ i'm saving all my love >> reporter: almost six weeks after whitney houston's death, we finally know what killed the 48-year-old grammy-winning singer. >> the department of coroner has concluded its investigation into the death of miss whitney houston. the final cause of death has been established as drowning due to atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use. >> reporter: houston's body was discovered february 11th, the evening before the grammy awards, submerged in the bathtub of her beverly hills hotel room. investigators found several prescription medications in her room. toxicology tests reveal houston had cocaine in her system and that it was a factor in her death. >> cocaine indicated an acute use and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> reporter: the test also say houston had used marijuana and other p

combination of cocaine and other drugs in her system, as he drowned in a hotel bathtub. what it tells us about her final moments. >>> mean kids. real stories of children like yours beaten up, abused. a new documentary goes inside the world of bullies, including an outpouring of support from depp to street to gaga. >>> and nature of the beast. he's the rogue animal lover with a knack for capping exotic creatures in the most bizarre behaviors. his radical plan to save the endangered. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," march 22nd, 2012. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. drugs, jim morrison once said, are a belt with your mind. 40 years after his body was found in a bathtub, we have another belove and tortured artist to remind us of the stakes of that bet. the results of whitney houston's autopsy are in tonight, and they confirm her cocaine use and the toll that addiction took on her mind and her heart. here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: since the day her body was pulled

this is the beverly hilton where whitney houston was found drowned in her bathtub back on february 11th. yesterday the coroner told houston's family how she died. he also released this preliminary one-page report. this report confirms what so many feared and so many suspected. drugs helped kill the superstar. toxicology reports show whitney houston used cocaine before she collapsed and drowned in her hotel bathtub. >> it appears that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. we know that when she slipped under the water she was stale live. >> reporter: although the official cause of houston's death is accidental drowning, a spokesman for l.a. county's coroner says cocaine combined with a heart condition played a key role. >> chances are had she not had the pre-existing heart disease and cocaine use, she may not have drowned. >> reporter: other drugs were found in houston's body including marijuana, xanax, benadryl, and a muscle relaxer. but these are not believed to have played a role in her death. the coron

nice hot bathtub. comfortable futon sounds good to be. we'll stay here tonight. thank you very much. this way please. upstairs please. thank you. your well co. and this will be your room. here are your bathrobes and the bathroom is through there and i'm,ihache and if you have any problems, let me know. thank you and enjoy your bath. he puts the three young men in the room right next door to the samurai. nice hot bath. feels good after a day of traveling. [singing] feels good huh? hey! why don't we have a party tonight. great idea. let's invite some geisha girls. we're on holiday so let's order the very best saki. later that night. [whispering] whoa! three gorgeous geisha girls come on in. okay. let's start the party. [music] whoa! yeah. hey! [music] [laughter] [singing] in the next room, the samurai was trying write a letter. [music playing in background],iha chi. iha chi! the samurai is calling me. i wonder what is wrong. did you call me? yes,iha chi! i'm sorry. next door being noisy. sorry i will go and tell them to be quiet. very, very sorry. [loud party noise

the cocaine had been usedd in the ime period just probably immediately prror to herrcollapse in the bathtube hotel" before her mmking aa ttempt at a comeback. bbt her prolonged drug use took a heavy toll on her voice.(nats bad singinn)(anchor ag) although she may be gone, you can expect to see a lot more of the singer in the future. houston had finished filming a remake of the movie "sparkle" whhch is expecced to be rrleased later this ear. in new york, ainssey eaahardt, ffx news.p the housing market... continues to struggle. struugleebut finddout thh two groups of people... hit hardest bb the slump. plump.and unemployment numberr are on the uppwing...but it's nnt all good news.what the -&r able toohelp. ((breek 3)) mine was earned over the south pacific in 1943. vietnam, 1967. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it m

she was found submerged in a bathtub filled with water. there was cocaine intake. -- it says in addition to cocaine, other drugs that were identified including marijuana, xanax, flexorol, benadryl, but those drugs did not necessarily contribute to the death, no trauma or foul play is suspected. it is anticipated the final coroner report will be available for release within two weeks. but the headline here is that they did find that there was heart disease. there was cocaine use, but she actually drowned in that bathtub. what do you make of this report? >> well, if someone has cocaine use in their body and has a history of heart disease which is what they're saying here in the first couple of lines in this report, the cocaine can actually exacerbate or worsen someone's heart disease. it really constricts blood vessels and can cut off blood flow to the heart itself and you're setting someone up for having a heart attack or some sort of heart failure. it sounds like reading between the lines of what happened is you have someone who has a history of heart disease, take

was one day before the -- submerged in the bathtub by 1 per staff members.oroner's report found no evidence of foul play. the evidence was consistent with chronic cocaine use. the drugs in our system did not contribute to our -- to her death. her death shocked and saddened to the world. she leaves behind a daughter and a musical legacy that will be forever remembered. >> in our project the economy report, new estimates show the baltimore archdiocese may have to come up with quite a bit of cash to fix the damage from last summer's earthquake. the crack in the dome grew. repairs may cost as much as $5 million. repairs are set to begin in june. they hope to keep the church opened for weekend masses and weddings. there report released thursday shows the city lost more than 10,000 jobs last year compared to in 2010. hotel occupancies are up. more people are moving to the city. the report was based on findings from a 1 mile radius. >> now your insta-weather forecast with meteorologist john collins. >> we had a little fog yesterday. at the moment, some nice warm ai

nice hot bathtub. comfortable futon sounds good to be. we'll stay here tonight. thank you very much. this way please. upstairs please. thank you. your well co. and this will be your room. here are your

why was she in the bathtub?, other people put them in a bathtub to revive them and only way to find out if it's true, if there is water dripping below in the roof, or in the floor. but i don't know. that would mean somebody with her. >> bob: she passed out because she drowned. >> dana: if you are watching the story, you have taken some of the drugs and lose self-control. what would somebody do now? if there was a moment, what -- bob? >> bob: san antonio nax is prescribed for dose -- xanax is prescribed for purposes. they get to addictive drugs and they start with one and then they're up to ten. they have to be careful. follow your doctor's direction. >> eric: that is an important point. the doctor's direction. if the doctor was prescribing this stuff, is it another michael jackson incident for you. are you sure she should have been prescribed all of this, benadryl and xanax on top of knowing -- >> andrea: listen to the news here. the coroner is saying cocaine and you add it to the prescription drug. this is an i

after nearly six weeks of speculation we now know how whitney houston died in a hotel bathtub in beverly hills on the eve of the grammy awards. >> that's right. the los angeles coroner's office has ruled it a drowning. citing cocaine use as contributing factors, and the coroner said the death should serve as a warning. we'll talk about that and the findings with dr. nancy synderman. >> also new details in the search for california teen sierra lamar who disappeared one week ago. a team from the fbi searched her family's home last night. so what were they looking for? and did they find anything that can help them locate the 15-year-old. sierra lamar's parents speak out in a live interview. >>> plus, at the start of republican presidential race, of course, we all know michelle bachman was an early front-runner. her campaign eventually lost steam. she's yet to endorse a candidate but that's not stopping her from calling on her party to unify quickly. she is in the house. we'll ask her about that coming up. >> and let the games begin. "the hunger games" officially hit theaters overnight. exci

she was found dead in the bathtub at the beverly hilton hotel. according to the coroner's report, the cause of death is drowning, but it also says that heart disease and cocaine use played a role. in addition, blood tests showed the presence of marijuana, xanax, a muscle relaxant called flexeril, and benadryl. at a news conference yesterday a spokesman for the coroner's office talked about all of the drugs found in her system. >> those drugs were all at the therapeutic or subtherapeutic level. they're not considered to be related to the actual cause of death. cocaine use indicated an acute use and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> unbelievable. >> tough for the family to hear, i would imagine. what does that report say about heart disease? >> right. i think a lot of questions were raised when we saw that on the report. it's called atherosclerosis, and what this is, medical term obviously, but what it means is that it was a narrowing of the

. >> reporter: she accidentally drowned in a bathtub with cocaine and heart disease in her death. they relasted them thursday ending weeks of speculation as to what killed the 48-year-old singer. >> we know when she slipped under the water she was still alive. we have evidence of drowning. so there was water in the lungs, so that substance yachts that finding. >> reporter: her body was found submerged in a bathtub by one of her staff members at the beverly hilton hotel, one day before the grammys. >> they found her unresponsive. they attempted life-saving resuscitation measures. unfortunately, they were not successful. >> reporter: the coroner's report found no evidence of foul play but did indicate results with chronic cocaine use and shows marijuana, xanax, flexeril and benadryl in her system but they did not contribute to her death. houston had planned to attend clive davis' pregrammy party and it shocked and saddened the world. she leaves behind her daughter and a musical legacy that will be remembered forever. stephanie stanton, nbc news los angeles. >>> in texas, police raid

this is a woman that hated bathtubs, particularly hotel bathtubs. we still have a lot of unanswered questions about why she was unattended and what people were thinking about what was going on in her life. >> it does seem pretty strange set of affairs given what the family was saying. in the end, drew, just a terrible tragedy. we lost one of the great entertainers in the world, another victim of addiction. >> that's exactly right. >> drew, thanks very much for joining me. >>> we also have breaking news in the trayvon martin case. police chief bill lee says he's stepping down temporarily in the wake of trayvon. a rally in florida tonight drew close to 1,000 people. the teenager's parents demanded an arrest and conviction in the murder of their son. john zarrella is live for us there in sanford. john, a lot of anger, very understandable anger. how would you describe the mood? what do people expect to happen? is the guy that shot this young boy going to get arrested? >> reporter: well, we don't know if he'll get arrested or when he'll get arrested. we

at the hotel. >> reporter: houston's body was discovered in the bathtub of her beverly hills hotel roomast month the day before the grammy awards. the coroner's office said the superstar was alive when she first went underwater but drowned because of heart problems and chronic drug use. >> chances are had she not had the pre-existing heart disease and cocaine use, she may not have drowned. >> reporter: the toxicology report also found low levels of marijuana and other prescription drugs in the 48- year-old's some but not enough to kill her. -- system but not enough to kill her. ♪ a houston family spokesperson says they are saddened to hear the toxicology results but are relieved to have closure. teresa garcia, cbs news, los angeles. >> officials say it will be a couple of weeks before the exact amount of cocaine in houston's system is released. >>> coming up next, howard has the weekend forecast. >> oh jc, if we can only make it last. it's unbelievable out here today. temperatures right now almost 20 degrees above the average high and we still have the rest of the afternoon to warm up.

>> her body was discovered february 11th, the evening before the grammy awards, submerged in the bathtub of a beverly hills hotel room. investigators found several prescription medications in her room. toxicology tests revealed that she had cocaine in her system and that it was a factor in her death. >> cocaine use indicated an acute used. and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time span immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> the test say that she had used marijuana and other prescription drugs, but not in amounts that would have killed her. the corners announcement ends weeks of speculation about whether the singer's death was the result of an accident, overdose, or foul play. she was buried last month onset of her father in new jersey. carissa garcia, cbs 2's los angeles. >> the search is on for the owner of a fearless the line that hitch a ride in an unlikely place. authorities say the wild ride began tuesday night. that little rascal right there jumped in side of the engine compartment of a car, a man was sleeping at a mcdonald's restaurant.

the official cause of death is she drown in the bathtub, is that correct?> yes and that the drowning was a result of her cocaine use. there was cocaine found in her system and according to this toxicology report, at the time she died, she had heart disease. the first thing that i asked the investigator was, this wasn't a drug overdose, right? it is not she died due to the drug overdose? she died as a result of drowning from cocaine and she had heart issues. it is a bit confusing. they are busy inside dealing with the media. we are hoping to have some of those questions answered because, again, it doesn't seem as clear-cut as the toxicology report lists. >> i know you want to go get some more answers. thank you very much. i want to bring in don lemon on the phone with us. what have you got? >> i have spoken to the coroner twice to get the information about the cause of death and, two, to clear up information about alcohol, whether or not alcohol was found in whitney houston's system. here is what ed winter, the assistant chief coroner in l.a. county says. he

she was found in the bathtub of her hotel room in beverly hills last month, her head under water. she died. after carrying out a post mortem examination, the los angelesd$+ her death was caudsed by a combination of drowning, heart disease, and cocaine use, suggesting she may have drown after having a heart attackúl@nked to her chronic drug habit. >> cocaine use indicated an acute useç. it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just prior to her collapse at -- in theç bathtub at the hotel. >> the singer had very public problems with alcohol and substance abuse. the coroner said thereç were ao traces of marijuana, the anti-stress drug xanax and a muscle relaxant in her system, but these did not contribute to her death. ♪ ç >> she had an extraordinary voice and career. to her death, age just 48. ♪ no more do you have to cry ♪(="tqi rñ an inquiry in possib intelligence failures after a series of gunmen in the southwest of the country. mohammed mara who claimed to have al-qaedaç training skills had been on a u.s. no-fly list. he carried out three separate atta

just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. the tests also say houston had used marijuana and other prescription drugs but not an amount that would kill her. >>> the corners announcement and we can said speculation about whether the singer's death was the result of an accidental overdose or foul play. whitney houston was buried last month alongside her father in new jersey history citrus yes cbs news lost angeles. the search for missing mother from gilroy came to a sad end today. the body of the two year-old martha your eyes was found this morning how long to take a pass highway over the san benito county line investigators say she had been shot gutierrez went missing more than a week ago, around this time her adult son able killed his 11 year-old sister before killing himself. his family says the suspect to the 27 year- old rock war veterans suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder. did we teach about more help. the cops went minutes has plenty of times the should done something about its there were so many signs and no one

whenever their son came and found them. >> 50 miles away still in the bathtub. >> yeah, with the bathtuba total so far for january and february of 115 tornadoes, which is approximately 50% more than what we normally would see for this time of year. >> reporter: millions are going to sleep in the danger zone, hoping that nightmares are confined to their dreams. brad wheelus, abc news. >> and sadly the storm threat's not even over. >> no. more of this could come today. accuweather meteorologist jim dickey continues our coverage now. good morning to you, jim. >> good morning, rob and paula. well, strong thunderstorms on the way here for today. ingredients in place. powerful upper-level system tracking out of the rockies, a rapidly stranting surface low drag warm moist air out of the gulf of mexico. damaging wind gusts and long track tornadoes, dangerous long track tornadoes on the table here for today. watch out from cincinnati, down through louisville kentucky into nashville, tennessee. rob and paula, back to you. >> the heartbreaking story we just saw. the woman whose dad lost his wife of

. >> reporter: troubled pop star whitney houston accidentally drowned in a bathtub, the l.a. coroner released the autopsy findings on thursday, ending weeks of speculation as to ha killed the 48 -year-old singer. >> we know when she slipped under the water, she was still alive. we have evidence of drowning. there was water in the lungs. >> reporter: houston's body was found submerged in a bathtub by one of her staff in the beverly hilton hotel. >> they found her unresponsive. >> reporter: the coroner's report found no evidence of foul play, but did indicate results skinsant with cocaine use. marijuana, xanax, flexeril. houston had planned to a tend clive davis' pre-grammy party. she leaves behind a musical legacy that will forever be remembered. >> reporter: here's your first look at other news going on around america today. in texas, police raided what they say were two active moonshine stills at a home making bootleg booze that goes for $100 a pint. neighbors are also accused of helping cook the 190-proof alcohol. police say the stills could have caused an explosion. >>> a

according to the coroner's report, she died in the hotel bathtub. no foul play.her arteries were severely clogged and there was a host of drugs in her system -- among them marijuana, benadryl, and xanax, and among the contributors to death, chronic cocaine use. >> it appeared the cocaine had been used in the time period probably just immediately prior to her collapse. >> houston 6 -- sister and law and manager pat houston issued a statement on behalf of the family, saying -- reporting live from northwest washington tahman bradley. >> looking around the region -- d.c. mayor vincent gray announces plans is -- plans to close the budget cap. the mayor and cfo will brief the city council on the proposed 2013 spending plan. meanwhile, the mayor and other city leaders are stepping up efforts to bring the redskins back in the d.c. borders. at a community leading -- leader -- meeting the mayor -- some say it will not do enough for the economy. as maryland senate committee will vote on a measure to expand gambling. it would allow table games instead of just slot machines.

it was back on february 11 that her body was discovered submerged in the bathtub of the beverly hills hotel room. >>> the update on the triple stabbing. the young woman was under arrest for the crime, but because she's a juvenile, police are not releasing her name. it happened around 9:30 last night. police say that the attack followed a fight that began on the mcdonalds area. three women stabbed were taken to the hospital and expected to recover. >>> now to a video that has gone viral on youtube. >> this tirade went on for a while. now, she was eventually removed and never hurt anybody, but in light of the school violence and the issues across the country in recent years, we checked with the local effort on how situations like this should be recovered. she tells 9news that the professor, they should have gotten students out of the classroom as fast as possible and call campus police instead of letting the incident escalate. >> too much time did elapse before they could get control of the situation. >> the name of that student has not been released. treated at the psychiatric facility

whitney houston drowned in that beverly hills bathtub. >> coroner's report says she was musing cocaine just before she had died. it was the tragic news that friends and family feared. >> reporter: after weeks of speculation, the results of whitney houston's autopsy may not be surprising. the singer's death in a bathtub at the beverly hills hilton was caused by what her friend, family and fans had feared. >> the final cause of death has been established as drowning, due to ath row cler rottic heart disease and cocaine use. >> reporter: water in houston's lungs indicated drowning. her heart was weakened by blockage of her arteries. long-time cocaine use contributed to her death. there was no foul play. >> it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just immediately prior to her collapse. >> reporter: houston's family was informed about the coroner's findings before the public. sister-in-law pat houston said, we are saddened to learn of the toxicology results. although, we are glad to have closure. houston had other drugs in her system that did not contribute to her deat

she was found in the bathtub of her hotel room in beverly hills, her head under water.ile police said there was no evidence of wrongdoing, questions remain about how she died. after carrying out a post-mortem examination and toxicology tests the lux county coroner said it was an accident. but her death was caused by a combination of drowning, heart disease and cocaine use. suggesting she may have drowned after having a heart attack related to her chronic drug habit. >> cocaine use indicated an acut use and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> the singer was one of the world's biggest selling artists from the mid 1980's to mid 1990's but had public problems with alcohol and substance abuse. the coroner said there were traces of marijuana, xanax and muscle relaxant. disease didn't no contribute to the death. >> many tributes were paid to her extraordinary voice and career at a funeral in new jersey where she was brought up. but it was her personal battle against addict