Police called to Liam Payne’s hotel before he fell to his death
Cops could be set to hunt down a drug dealer after the former One Direction member plunged to his death from a third floor balcony at a Buenos Aires hotel.
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Police probing Liam Payne’s tragic death could be set to investigate whether a drug dealer is involved.
The 31-year-old singer plunged to his death from the third floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
Argentine media published pictures allegedly showing inside Liam’s Buenos Aires hotel room after he fell to his death from the balcony, with the images appearing to show white powder and burnt aluminium foil.
Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti said Liam died instantly from the fall after he fractured his skull.
In the images, there appears to be traces of a white powder and burnt aluminium foil both in the bathroom and living area.
Cops will now test the alleged items to see if they are illegal substances, and look into who may have supplied them.
The tragic ending to the story of Liam Payne’s life plunged millions of One Direction fans and the pop star’s family and friends into shock and grief.
Fans sobbed as they sang the boy band phenomenon’s 2013 hit Story Of My Life as they gathered outside the Buenos Aires hotel where Liam died on Thursday.
A police spokesman in the Argentinian capital said officers were sent to the hotel after an emergency call from the manager, just after 5pm Wednesday local time, about an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.
In a recording of the call obtained by Associated Press, the manager becomes increasingly anxious as he told police “he’s destroying the entire room” and noted the room had a balcony.
According to TMZ, the singer earlier “had been acting erratic in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop” before he “had to be carried back to his room”.
Payne was found by police suffering “extremely serious injuries” on a deck near the hotel pool, with medics confirming his death.
PAYNE WITH GIRLFRIEND DAYS PRIOR TO DYING
The singer had been in Argentina since September 30 with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, who reportedly returned home a few days ago.
The pair were filmed singing and dancing together at the Buenos Aires concert by his One Direction bandmate Niall Horan on October 2.
Less than an hour before his death, Payne shared several posts on Snapchat. Some of the snaps included photos of his food, his plans to play polo and filming Cassidy as they ate breakfast, revealing they had been staying at their friend’s home. The video appears to have been recorded before Cassidy left and uploaded later.
“Today, we ride. I think I’m going to be playing polo again, which is going to put me out of action for about six weeks,” Payne said in one post.
PAYNE’S MUSIC CAREER
Payne was catapulted to global stardom alongside Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik in 2010 after they were fashioned into the boy band One Direction on the British reality singing contest The X Factor.
Each member had a distinct persona, with Payne known as the “responsible” one who pulled his then teen bandmates into line when they acted their age.
But the relentless recording, touring and promotional schedule and the extraordinary pressures of global fame over the five years of One Direction’s reign as one of the biggest boy bands in pop history took its toll on the young star.
PAYNE SPENT NEARLY 100 DAYS IN REHAB
He battled alcohol and substance abuse in the wake of the band’s break-up in 2016 as he worked to establish his solo career, publicly sharing his experiences at rehab.
In July last year, Payne shared his mental health struggles in a YouTube video, celebrating six months of sobriety, and telling fans he’d spent nearly 100 days in a rehab facility in Louisiana.
“I just kind of feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me. I just feel like I’ve got more of a handle on it,” he said.
“I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself, actually, because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognise anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.”
PAYNE VISITED AUSTRALIA
Payne visited Australia on several occasions, first touring here in 2012 and joining his bandmates for appearances at the Logies and ARIA Awards.
He last performed here at the Royal Randwick Racecourse for The Everest carnival in 2018.
The singer and songwriter released his final solo single Teardrops, the first taster of his planned second album, on March 1 this year.
STARS PAY TRIBUTE
Paris Hilton was among the first stars to share their grief about the singer’s death on social media, writing: “So upsetting to hear the news of Liam Payne passing. Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. RIP my friend”.
He survived by his son Bear, 7, his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.
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