A four-hour autopsy was performed on Prince on Friday, but authorities said they are no closer to determing how the iconic musician died.
"It was a meticulous exam," said Martha Weaver, spokeswoman for the Midwest Medical Examiners Office.
Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson, whose officers responded to Prince's Paisely Park estate Thursday morning, said the artist showed no signs of trauma.
"We have no reason to believe it was suicide," Olson said at a Friday afternoon news conference. "The rest of it is under investigation."
Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, was last seen alive at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, a suburb of Minneapolis, about 8 p.m. Wednesday, the sheriff said.
Staff members at the estate found the singer unconscious in an elevator on the property about 9:43 a.m. Thursday. Olson said first responders tried to perform CPR on Prince, but could not revive him. He was pronounced dead shortly after 10.
Even though the physical autopsy is finished, officials say it could still take several days to weeks before Prince’s cause of death is known.
RELATED – Minneapolis mourns Prince, a native son who stayed close to home >>>
“As part of a complete exam, relevant information regarding Mr. Nelson’s medical and social history will be gathered,” the coroner's office said in the statement.
Prince was on tour in the U.S. this month, and played a show in Atlanta the night of the 14th. The superstar was briefly hospitalized while on his way home after his plane made an emergency landing in Illinois because he was reportedly suffering f-rom the flu.
According to flight records, the jet Prince was believed to be using left Atlanta shortly before 1 a.m. Eastern on April 15. The Dassault Falcon 900 was en route to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, but diverted to Quad City International Airport in Milone, Illinois about 30 minutes before the scheduled landing. The aircraft, according to records, was in Illinois for nearly 10 hours before departing for Minneapolis again.
“Anything which could be relevant to the investigation will be taken into consideration,” officials said. “Midwest Medical Examiner's Office will not release information until the exam is complete and all results are obtained. Gathering the results will take several days and the results of a full toxicology scan could likely take weeks.”
Dr. Quinn Strobl, the chief medical examiner for several counties outside of Minneapolis, performed the autopsy. Strobl, a board-certified forensic, anatomic and clinical pathologist, has been practicing as a forensic pathologist since completing her fellowship in 2005, officials said.
“The body of Prince has been released to his family," Weaver said Friday afternoon.
(This is a developing story. Please check back for up-dates.)
Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).
