The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner released a report on December 6 indicating that drugs did not impair actress Anne Heche before her death. Multiple drugs were detected in her system through blood and urine tests, including cocaine and cannabinoids. However, these drugs had not been used before Heche’s horrific car accident and did not directly cause Heche’s crash.
Heche collided with a home traveling 80 mph in Los Angeles on August 5, causing the building to catch fire. Heche was trapped in her vehicle for 45 minutes before firefighters could pull her from her Mini Cooper. After the crash, Heche was taken to UCLA Ronald Regan Hospital, where she was treated for extensive burns and a fractured sternum. After being in a coma for a week, she was taken off life support, and her organs were donated. Ultimately, her burns made her body unable to absorb oxygen, leading to anoxic brain injury, which resulted in her death.
Heche is known for her roles in Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Psycho (1998), and Six Days, Seven Nights. Heche was also in a relationship with Ellen DeGeneres from 1997 to 2000 and was heralded as “the world’s first gay super couple.” Heche also struggled with mental illness and abuse as a child, and at one point dawned a new persona named “Celestia,” claiming she was the second coming of Jesus.
Hache is survived by her two children.