AMY Winehouse’s dad Mitch was yesterday told her body was drug-free but he said to a pal: “We still need to know what killed her.”
Toxicology results showed there were no “illegal substances” in her system when tests were carried out after the singer’s death.
It is not yet known if there were any prescription drugs found in her blood – or how much alcohol was in her system.
And her family are still desperate to find out exactly how she died.
Former cabbie Mitch, 60, told a friend: “This has been one long nightmare and it’s still not over.
“We just need to know what killed our little girl. But we’re a step further to the truth now, which is a small comfort.”
The family yesterday issued a statement confirming the results of the tests.
It read: “Toxicology results returned to the Winehouse family by authorities have confirmed that there were no illegal substances in Amy’s system at the time of her death.
“Results indicate that alcohol was present but it cannot be determined as yet if it played a role in her death.”
Mitch told mourners at her funeral his daughter had been the happiest she had been in a long time in the weeks before her death last month and she had completed “three weeks of abstinence”. He said she had “conquered” her drug addiction and was “trying hard to deal with her drinking”.
But the family suspect this period of not drinking, followed by boozing in the week of her death, may have killed her.
The Mirror has previously revealed she went drinking days before her death after a brief performance at the Camden Roundhouse venue in North London. A source said: “A theory is that her body couldn’t cope with the quick alcohol withdrawal and then after drinking suddenly after three weeks, it made things worse.
“But they are awaiting the inquest when everything should hopefully become clear.”
Amy was discovered dead in her bed at her £2million Camden home by her security guard just before 4pm on Saturday, July 23.
The previous evening she had been examined by her doctor who had given her the all clear.
Shortly after her death, police sources confirmed there were no signs of drugs in her three-storey home.
The singer’s funeral was held just three days after she passed away at the age of 27.
A full inquest into her death is due to be held on October 26 at St Pancrascoroner’s court.
Mitch has announced plans to launch a foundation in his daughter’s name to help young people battling addiction.
But he said his efforts had been frustrated by “cyber squatters” who had snapped up possible internet addresses for the charity.
'This may not be a clear-cut case'
Expert view - Dr Graham Mould, forensic toxicologist
IT is a very different thing to say that no illegal substances were found than to say that no drugs whatsoever were detected.
There are many different tests and we differentiate between the two.
Once you find a positive match for a substance, further checks would be used to confirm it. There would be an initial screening test which would cover illicit drugs and then acidic drugs, which would be expected to produce a result quickly. The first tests would be for illegal drugs.
If they were all negative you may then consider possible alternatives.
In terms of alcohol, if it was a small amount it would be fairly easy to determine that it was not the cause of death, so in this instance it was obviously enough to require more checks. It seems unusual to say that alcohol was present but not be able to say what sort of effect that quantity may have had.
It is worth noting that a two-day delay between the death and the examination could cause some drugs - such as ketamine and GHB - to not be picked up.
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