LOS ANGELES — Note: If you or someone you know is thinking of harming themselves, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides free support via the Lifeline by dialing 988. For more about risk factors and warning signs, visit the organization’s official website.
Lindsey Pearlman’s cause of death was revealed Tuesday, six months after the 43-year-old actress was found dead in the Hollywood Hills.
KTTV obtained a copy of an autopsy report conducted by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner that concluded Pearlman’s death was a suicide caused by sodium nitrite toxicity.
“Ingestion of a toxic dose leads to life-threatening cardiovascular and central nervous system effects, including respiratory depression… and convulsions,” the report stated.
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department found Pearlman’s body in a car near Runyon Canyon Park on Friday, Feb. 18, about 3.5 miles from her East Hollywood home where she was last seen five days prior.
Sodium nitrate is commonly used to cure meat products including bacon and deli meats, KTTV reported.
The coroner’s report also stated that the toxicology exam revealed “the presence of non-toxic levels of lorazepam, metoclopramide, and codeine,” the TV station reported.
A Chicago native, Pearlman appeared on shows including “Empire,” “General Hospital,” “Selena: The Series,” “Chicago Justice” and “The Purge” TV series, according to “Today.”
A graduate of The Second City Conservatory, Pearlman’s theater credits included “The Mousetrap” and “Never the Bridesmaid,” for which she received the Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role. She also performed in Second City Theatrical’s national tour of “The Realish Housewives: A Parody,” KTTV reported.
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