On the afternoon of May 9, 2010, Blasberg was found dead with a plastic bag secured over her head in her bed at her home in
Anthem, Nevada, outside of
Las Vegas, at age 25. Officers were dispatched to her residence in response to a
911 call by Dr. Thomas Hess, Blasberg's doctor, around 3:00 p.m. (
PT). In an interview with
Press-Enterprise on May 10, Blasberg's father, Mel Blasberg, said, "At first glance it looks like she might have taken her own life, but at second glance, something is very, very strange about it. We're waiting for the police to make an investigation." Hess and Blasberg then went to a hotel in Henderson, where they watched a hockey game on TV in its lounge, and were seen touching hands and with the married Hess's hand on Blasberg's leg. The coroner, however, said she had no alcohol in her system, only drugs. However, Blasberg's agent revealed that Blasberg's bags were packed for a tournament in Mobile at the time of her death. The days prior to her death, Blasberg had been busy and appeared normal, working on her golf game, buying curtains for her bedroom at her father's house, and having a round of
Botox injections. The search warrant listed an anti-anxiety medication,
Xanax, plastic garbage bags, and a sample of Hess' handwriting. On June 2, 2010, Blasberg's father appeared on
The Early Show, where he denied that his daughter had been
clinically depressed, in financial troubles, or unhappy with her recent performances. On August 24, 2010, the
Clark County, Nevada coroner's office ruled Blasberg's death a
suicide with
asphyxia cited as the primary cause of death, and toxic levels of multiple
prescription drugs cited as an additional "significant factor." Hess was released about 35 minutes after he was arrested and booked into jail, on $637 bail. In November 2010, Hess admitted that he had removed a
suicide note and the prescription medication he had given Blasberg from her bed stand at the scene, hiding them in his car, which he said was "to spare the family embarrassment"; he had never met the family. "I'm sad and don't want to be doing this right now," she said in the note. "Sorry for all the people I've hurt doing this, but please understand how miserable and sad I am, and that I feel no way of escaping it." His actions followed his 911 call in which the emergency operator told Hess, "Try not to touch anything," and he replied, "Yes ma'am." While Hess called in the suicide from Blasberg's home, when the police arrived they found Blasberg's body alone at the scene.
Wrongful death lawsuit Blasberg's parents filed a wrongful death and malpractice suit against Hess. ==Professional wins (1)==