THAI police say Shane Warne’s autopsy shows the cricket great died of natural causes as his family issued a statement saying they would accept the offer of a state memorial.
Deputy spokesperson Kritsana Pattanacharoen said on Monday the autopsy report had been received and it concluded Warne had a “natural death”. Thai police have informed his family and the Australian embassy.
The police will now provide the report to the prosecutor to close the case.
The Australian ambassador thanked Thai police and the related department for the investigation into the 52-year-old’s death on Friday.
Warne’s parents on Monday evening said the past few days had been a “never-ending nightmare”.
“To find words to adequately express our sadness is an impossible task for us and looking to a future without Shane is inconceivable,” Keith and Brigitte Warne said. “Hopefully the mountain of happy memories we all have will help us cope with our ongoing grief.”
Warne’s son, Jackson, said he didn’t think anything would fill the void his father had left behind.
“I love you so much,” he said. “Sitting at the poker table, walking around the golf course, watching the Saints and eating pizza is never going to be the same.”
His daughter Brooke said she would forever cherish her final memories with her father “laughing and joking around”.
“We were happy. We were so similar in so many ways and I always used to joke that I got your genes and about how much that annoyed me,” she said. “Well, now I
couldn’t be happier and prouder that I have your genes.”
Younger daughter Summer said: “Our time was robbed. I want more holidays with you, more laughs where your smile lights up the whole room.”
Earlier on Monday, a German woman had been questioned by Thai police after she had entered the back of the ambulance transporting Warne’s body off Koh Samui island.
Warne’s body was on Sunday taken from Koh Samui by ferry to Surat Thani on the mainland and to a local hospital where the official autopsy was conducted. His remains are now expected to be prepared for an air transfer to Melbourne.
Warne’s body was accompanied by his friends, as well as the Australian ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, and Dfat officials, but they were not with the van when it was parked on the car ferry, the ABC reported.
ABC video footage showed a blonde woman accompanied by a Thai woman talking to local immigration officials by the car ferry.
The pair was then escorted to the ambulance parked on the ferry where the blonde woman approached the driver’s window holding flowers. They had a brief exchange before he escorted her to the other side of the van and allowed her to enter for less than a minute.
The Guardian
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