Los Angeles coroners have confirmed rocker Chester Bennington committed suicide by hanging.
The Linkin Park frontman was found unresponsive at his Palos Verdes Estates home in California on Thursday (July 20), and authorities have since revealed the 41-year-old used a belt to hang himself from a bedroom door.
“It was a door in the bedroom,” Los Angeles Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter tells the New York Daily News, adding, “There was a partially empty bottle of alcohol (in the room).”
It’s not yet known if Bennington, who had struggled with drink and drug addiction in the past, had consumed the booze prior to his death, but the results from his autopsy are expected within days.
The singer ended his own life on what would have been his close pal Chris Cornell’s 53rd birthday. The Soundgarden star committed suicide in a similar manner in his Detroit, Michigan hotel room on May 18.
Cornell’s widow Vicky reached out to Bennington’s wife Talinda in a post on social media on Thursday, writing, “Just when I thought my heart couldn’t break any more…..I love you T.”
A representative for the Cornells also issued a statement expressing their heartache at the tragedy.
“The Cornell family is overwhelmed by the heartbreaking news about Chester Bennington which tragically comes so soon after their family’s own loss,” the message read. “They open up their loving arms to Chester’s family and share in the sorrow with all those who loved him.”
Bennington, a father of six, had been incredibly close to Cornell, and served as godfather to his 11-year-old son, Chris.
His widow Talinda, the mother of three of his children, has yet to comment on the star’s death.
