Sunday 14 July 2013

Glee star Cory Monteith, 31, found dead in Vancouver

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Glee star Cory Monteith, 31, found dead in Vancouver

Watch the complete news conference held by the Vancouver Police Department

Cory Monteith dead at 31
Photo: Glee on Fox
Marc Weisblott
Published: July 14, 2013, 1:08 am
Updated: 4 mins ago

Vancouver police confirmed Saturday night that Glee star Cory Monteith, a longtime resident of the city, was found dead shortly after noon at the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel.

The actor checked in on July 6 and was slated to check out on Saturday. Police learned that others were in the room with Monteith on Friday night. But he was alone in the room later into the evening.

Hotel staff went to his room after the check-out time was missed.

While the cause of death wasn’t immediately apparent, explained Acting Police Chief Doug Lepard and Coroner Lisa Lapointe, there was no sign of foul play.

Vancouver police held a 10:30 p.m. PT news conference in the effort to accommodate the level of media interest in the story.

But police also explained that some details weren’t being disclosed because the family had just been informed of the death about an hour earlier.

Further details will be released pending an investigation.

“I have no words! My heart is broken,” Dot-Marie Jones, who plays football coach Shannon Beiste on Glee, said in a post on her Twitter account Saturday night. She called Monteith a “hell of a friend” and an “amazing” man.

Other cast members also posted their immediate reactions on Twitter.

“What an absolutely tragic loss of a very talented young man,” tweeted Zooey Deschanel, star of another Fox show, New Girl.

And Mark Salling, who plays Puck, wrote simply, “No,” in a tweet that later appeared to have been deleted.

Fox and the producers of Glee, including 20th Century Fox Television, called him an exceptional performer “and an even more exceptional person. He was a true joy to work with and we will all miss him tremendously.”

Co-stars also posted their favourite photos of Monteith to social media sites.



“We are in shock and mourning this tragic loss,” his representatives at Viewpoint Public Relations in Los Angeles said in a statement.

Monteith voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility for substance addiction earlier this year but that program reportedly concluded on April 26.

The 31-year-old actor was born in Calgary, raised in Victoria, and started a TV and movie career in Vancouver before being cast as Finn Hudson on the U.S. musical series Glee in 2009.

A video of the nine-minute Vancouver Police Department news conference can be viewed below with the official statement that preceded reporter questions:


Watch live streaming video from vancouverpolice at livestream.com

Shortly after noon today, the Vancouver Police received a call from the BC Ambulance Service regarding a sudden death in a room on the 21st floor of the Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel at 1038 Canada Place in downtown Vancouver.

Police attended within minutes of the call and paramedics advised the man in the room was clearly deceased. Coroner’s staff did attend the scene.

The deceased has been identified as 31-year-old actor Cory Monteith, who achieved great fame on the popular TV series Glee.

Before I give further information, on behalf of the Vancouver Police, I want to pass on our condolences to the family, friends, castmates and millions of fans of Mr. Monteith. As was the case in countless homes, I watched Glee regularly with my daughters, and I know there will be shock and sadness in many households with the news of his tragic death.

Mr. Monteith checked into the hotel in July 6th and was due to check out of the room today. There were others with Mr. Monteith in his room earlier last night, but video and fob key entries show him returning to his room by himself in the early morning hours and we believe he was alone when he died.

When he missed his check-out time, staff went to the room at noon and found his body.

We know there will be considerable interest in this case, and we have detectives assigned to the case who attended with our Forensic Identification Unit to examine the scene, to ensure to the extent possible that there are no unanswered questions.

Hotel video has been secured as well as room access records. Our investigators have spoken with hotel staff, who are providing the utmost in cooperation.

An autopsy is schduled for Monday. The Coroner will be determining the next steps with respect to establishing cause of death, but all indications are that there was no foul play.



Monteith tweeted to over 1.5 million followers during his hotel stay that he was repeatedly listening to the song “Paris” by the British band Friendly Fires.




(With Files from the Associated Press)
Posted by at 06:08
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