Julia Roberts’ half-sister Nancy Motes’ death has been officially declared a suicide.
The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office announced the judgement on Wednesday (14.05.14) following various toxicology tests and an autopsy.
Officials revealed Nancy, 37, was discovered drowned in her bath on February 9 after taking various substances, which have not been named. Her body was found with a note.
This ruling will be followed by an autopsy report published later in May which will contain an inventory of the drugs she had taken leading up to her death.
Following the ruling, Motes’ fiancé John Dilbeck told the New York Daily News newspaper: "I want everyone to know Nancy was not a drug addict. This verdict from the coroner is more proof of that. I’m still suffering and in mourning, and this is one of the worst nightmares anyone can imagine."
Nancy allegedly had a difficult relationship with her half-sister Julia which had gotten worse in recent years.
The ‘August: Osage County’ star admitted last month her sibling’s shock death had hit her and their family hard
The 46-year-old actress – who shared a mother, Betty Lou, with Nancy – said: "It’s just heartbreak … You don’t want anything bad to happen to anyone, but there are so many tragic, painful, inexplicable things in the world. But [as with] any situation of challenge and despair, we must find a way, as a family. It’s so hard to formulate a sentence about it outside the weepy huddle of my family. … Meditation or chanting or any of those things can be so joyous and also very quieting."
Julia Roberts’ sister Nancy Motes’ death declared suicide
