Authorities reportedly raided Prince’s local pharmacy in a search for evidence that could shed light on his shocking death.
The surprise search warrant was served Thursday at the Walgreens near Paisley Park where the superstar singer was spotted four times in the week leading up to his death, TMZ.com reported.
Investigators spent several hours combing through the store’s pharmacy records looking for evidence of doctors involved, drugs dispensed and possible aliases used, the celebrity website said.
PRINCE HAD PAINKILLERS IN HIS POSSESSION WHEN HE DIED
Unidentified family members reportedly told TMZ that Prince had multiple doctors scoring him prescriptions, including a “personal friend.”
Prince had a problem with Percocet and nearly suffered a fatal overdose six days prior to his death, the celebrity website reported.
His private plane made an unscheduled landing in Moline, Ill., on April 15 after back-to-back concerts in Atlanta — and he was carried off the plane by his bodyguard, a law enforcement source confirmed to The News.
Prince received an emergency “save shot” at the airport for the alleged Percocet overdose, TMZ said.
COPS MADE 40 TRIPS TO PRINCE’S HOME IN FIVE YEARS
Authorities are now on the hunt for any doctors who prescribed the “Purple Rain” artist powerful drugs and the circumstances of their care, the website said.
Such an investigation would mirror the forensic work that took place after Michael Jackson’s death. That probe revealed a pattern of doctor shopping on the part of Jackson and a cover-up that led to an involuntary manslaughter conviction for Dr. Conrad Murray.
Prince was aware of his problem and had entered an outpatient treatment program to deal with his growing reliance on pain pills, according to KSTP 5 Eyewitness News.
Prince sought the treatment as he was dealing with chronic hip pain, the station reported.
The local news station also said representatives for the bank now handling Prince’s estate as court-appointed trustee went to great lengths Tuesday to get inside the locked vault at his suburban Minneapolis home.
Bremer Bank hired a St. Paul company to drill through the vault so it could take an inventory of its contents, KSTP reported.
Prince’s longtime sound engineer previously told The News that Prince kept his invaluable stash of recordings in the vault, including a mountain of unreleased music that could lead to posthumous albums.
Meanwhile, Prince’s sister reportedly walked out of a family meeting Thursday amid tensions with two brothers.
Unidentified sources told TMZ that Tyka Nelson, 55, marched out of the meeting after half-brother Alfred Nelson, 62, said he was upset over not being invited to Prince’s private funeral service last Saturday.
PRINCE DIED WITHOUT ANY EVIDENCE OF A WILL, JUDGE DETERMINES
In a Facebook post last summer, Tyka gushed over Alfred as she described him as a Vietnam War veteran drafted when he was 17 now living in a VA Hospital in St. Cloud, Minn.
She described running around town buying a cake, balloons and candles for him and how thrilled she was to see people wishing him a happy birthday on social media.
“As u can tell All of my family mean so much to me,” she wrote.
After Tyka left the meeting Thursday, a representative from the bank that the court temporarily placed in charge of Prince’s estate took Alfred on a tour of Paisley Park, TMZ reported.
A source told the celebrity news website that Alfred got to see the area where his famous brother died “so he could properly grieve.”
Tyka, who was Prince’s only full sibling, filed court paperwork this week claiming Prince died without a will. She listed herself and five half-siblings who are still alive as heirs.
In addition to Alfred, she listed brothers John Nelson and Omarr Baker and sisters Norrine Nelson and Sharon Nelson.
The siblings are viewed as equal heirs under state law.
Prince, 57, was found unresponsive in an elevator at his home early on April 21. The cause of death is not yet known, but he was alone and police said they have no immediate evidence of foul play.
PRINCE DIED WITHOUT A WILL, JUDGE FINDS
After an autopsy, his body was cremated. A couple dozen close friends and relatives gathered for his private funeral at Paisley Park on Saturday.
“There were a lot of tears, and a lot of hugs. But there was also a lot of sharing stories and memories, which created a lot of laughter — which that too would have been what Prince would have wanted,” close family friend Sylvia Amos, 67, told the Daily News.
Prince lived with Amos’ family, including her brother Andre Cymone, as a teen.
“It’s still very unbelievable to me,” she told The News this week, confirming she attended the funeral.
“There were a lot of candles, because as his sister said, he loved candles, and people were free to take the candles with them when it was over,” she said.
REMEMBERING PRINCE: SEE FULL COVERAGE HERE
Paisley Park staff served Prince’s favorite vegetarian dishes at the service, including a pasta and beans recipe and sliced vegetables with hummus and guacamole, she said.
“We also danced to his music and we were all encouraged to get up and dance,” she said. “The song that closed out the memorial service was ‘Purple Rain,’ and everyone was kind of holding onto someone else, quietly listening with most of us having tears in our eyes.”
In an eerie twist, she said a black silhouette of Prince’s face projected on the walls of his private funeral Saturday included a haunting detail.
The computer projecting the image had its mouse arrow hovering over Prince’s cheek in a position that looked like a single teardrop, she said.
“You couldn’t help but look at it,” Amos said. “It was his nephew who noted that it looked like a teardrop.”
