Anne Heche Coroner Report Reveals New Details on Cause of Death
Three months after her death, Anne Heche's final autopsy report has been released, offering further clarity on the devastating car crash that claimed the actress' life. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner's report was released Tuesday, revealing that there was "no evidence of impairment" by illicit drugs in the Six Days Seven Nights actress' system at the time of the crash.
According to the report, obtained by PEOPLE, benzoylecgonine, the inactive metabolite of cocaine, was detected in a blood sample obtained from Heche upon her admission to the hospital. Per a spokesperson for the coroner, this "means she used in the past but not at the time of the crash." Cannabinoids were also detected in her urine, but not in her blood, something that "is consistent with prior use, but not at the time of the injury." The autopsy report also detected fentanyl in her system, but the coroner noted that it was "obtained after she received treatment at the hospital and therefore is consistent with therapeutic use. This is supported by the lack of fentanyl in the blood specimen drawn at admission to the hospital." The coroner clarified that there was "no evidence of impairment" by illicit drugs.
The report comes three months after Heche crashed her car, a blue Mini Cooper, into a garage at an apartment complex in the Mar Vista neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 5. Heche then sped away before later crashing into a home, which erupted in flames. The actress was trapped in her vehicle for approximately 45 minutes before the Los Angeles Police Department was able to rescue her. She was rushed to UCLA Ronald Ragan Hospital with third and second-degree burns and a fractured sternum, according to the coroner's report, which also revealed that Heche's burns were so severe that they prevented her body from effectively absorbing oxygen, leading to her "anoxic brain injury," which ultimately killed her.
Heche was eventually transferred to a specialty burns ICU at West Hills Hospital. She underwent multiple skin grafts and remained in a coma for nearly a week before she was declared legally dead in the state of California on Aug. 11. Her heart continued beating until Aug. 14, allowing her organs to be donated. The coroner determined Heche's manner of death as an accident.
Heche rose to fame playing the twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love on Another World, earning her a Daytime Emmy award. During the late 1990s. She starred in movies like Donnie Brasco, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Volcano, Wag the Dog, and Six Days, Seven Nights, returning to TV in recent years with recurring roles on Chicago P.D. and All Rise. Her body was cremated on Aug. 18. She is survived by friends and family, including sons Homer Laffoon, 20, and Atlas Tupper, 13.