Back in July, the music world was stunned by the news that Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington had taken his own life.
Bennington had been open about his struggles with depression and addiction over the years, but friends and family say he showed no outward signs of struggling in the weeks leading up to his death.
Naturally, many questions remain as to what led Bennington to commit suicide on the birthday of his friend Chris Cornell, who had also recently hung himself.
Unfortunately, a toxicology report released this week offers little in the way of answers.
The report reveals that Bennington may have been under the influence of multiple substances at the time of his death.
According to test results obtained by TMZ, Bennington had both alcohol and MDMA in his system
However, the alcohol was detected only in “trace amounts,” and two follow-up tests did not detect any MDMA in Bennington’s system.
Authorities reported finding a bottle of the sleeping medication Zolpidem on Bennington’s dresser, along with an empty beer bottle and a pint glass half-filled with beer.
They also detected pieces of fingernail underneath his iPhone and on a table in his bedroom, but wife Talinda Bennington attributed these findings to a nervous tic of Chester’s.
Needless to say, the reports provide little in the way of closure for Talinda and other loved ones of Chester’s.
At one point, his widow informed authorities that Bennington had attempted to take his own life in 2006 after drinking heavily.
That does seem to be the case here.
The amounts of alcohol found in Bennington’s system were reportedly not enough to have intoxicated a grown man.
The singer was involved in an outpatient rehab program at the time of his death, and one month before his passing, he informed friends that he had been sober for six months.
Those who knew him best will no doubt continue to seek answers, but the fact remains that depression and mental illness are unpredictable and poorly understood.
Tragically, it seems that Bennington simply succumbed to a disease that affects tens of millions of Americans.
