Cops: No signs of trauma, suicide in Prince death

A woman visits the Rain Room exhibition by the artists’ collective Random International, bathed in purple light in honour of Prince, in Los Angeles on Friday. (Photo: AFP)

There was no evidence of trauma on Prince’s body when he was found unresponsive in an elevator at his huge compound or any indication the late music icon committed suicide, the US authorities said on Friday.

Stunned fans massed outside the superstar’s Paisley Park studio complex on the outskirts of Minneapolis are looking to an autopsy carried out earlier in the day to resolve the mystery around the sudden loss of their idol.

But medical officials cautioned it could be weeks before they can conclusively say what killed the enigmatic, award-winning musician, whose death at age 57 plunged the entertainment world into grief.

Prince was found dead on Thursday, a week after he was hospitalised for flu-like symptoms that he later downplayed. There have been reports the incident may have been triggered by an overdose of an opioid-based painkiller.