A preliminary medical examiner’s report said former NFL receiver Vincent Jackson could have been dead for up to three days when he was found in a hotel room in Hillsborough County, Florida, according to WFLA News in Tampa.
Jackson was found by a housekeeper on Monday at about 11:30 p.m. He was 38 years old.
Hillsborough County Medical Examination said hotel staff had entered Jackson’s room on Feb. 13 and 14 and found Jackson sitting on the couch in a reclining position, assuming he was asleep. The staff became worried when they entered the room on February 15 and saw Jackson lying in the same position.
Family members reported Jackson’s disappearance on February 10. Jackson stayed at Homewood Suites on Feb. 11 and spoke with authorities on Feb. 12 after the Hillsborough County sheriff’s officials located him at the hotel. The missing person’s report was canceled after officials assessed Jackson’s well-being.
The exact cause of death is not yet known, although the preliminary medical report showed no signs of trauma.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it believes Jackson suffered from chronic alcoholism and contusions at the time of his death, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, although the family said the sheriff’s office “does not speak on behalf of the Jackson family.”
Allison Gorrell, the family’s spokeswoman, told Ken Bolson about New York Times that the family will donate Jackson’s brain to researchers at Boston University to determine if he had traumatic chromatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease related to recurrent head trauma.
“Vincent being who he was, he wanted to help as many people as possible,” Gorrell said. “It’s something his family wanted to do to get answers to some of their questions.”