Anne Heche, an American actress, (53), was involved in a sequence of three motor vehicle crashes, the third of which took her life this past year. Her vehicle, traveling at a high rate of speed, crashed into a house and trapped Heche inside. The vehicle caught fire and it took firefighters close to an hour to extract her from the vehicle. She was deemed by police to be “under the influence” of narcotics, including fentanyl.
A blood sample drawn in the emergency room did show the presence of an inactive cocaine metabolite, another report said, indicating that the actor had used the drug in the days before her death.
Evidence of cannabinoids and benzodiazepine was found in a urine sample taken after she was admitted to the hospital, indicating that she had also used those drugs in recent days. No such evidence appeared in the blood sample. Fentanyl was also present in the urine sample, but that was consistent with the drug being administered in the hospital for pain.
She was taken to the emergency room at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and later transferred to the burn unit at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center. She was said to be brain dead the evening of Aug. 11 — the date given on the hospital paperwork — and her family confirmed her death to The Times on Aug. 12.
However, Heche’s body was kept on life support until Aug. 14, so that her organs could be harvested for donation after recipients had been found. Her cremated remains were interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
The 95th Academy Award Ceremony held this month, left out several notable stars, including Heche. They also left out Charibi Dean, Leslie Jordan, and Robert Blake, leaving fans to wonder why.
