Police report Houston found underwater, unconscious; coroner denies reports of 'no drowning'

New reports on Whitney Houston's death intimated that it may not have been the result of drowning in her hotel room bathtub, but the Los Angeles Country Coroner has denied giving the family any such information.

The TMZ report cited unnamed Houston family members, and said that the former pop queen did not die from drowning in her bathtub, but rather from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol. The report stated that coroner's officials informed the family that there was not sufficient water in Houston's lungs to lead to the conclusion that she drowned. Instead, sources told TMZ that Houston "may" have died before her head was submerged under water.

In a Monday morning press conference, however, assistant chief coroner Ed Winter denied that any personnel said any such thing to the family. The Los Angeles County Coroner's office has not discussed whether either drowning or prescription medications did or did not play a role in Whitney Houston's death, he said.

Publicly, all that the coroner's office has said was that there was no "foul play" involved in Houston's death. There were also no visible signs of trauma, the office added. Although the coroner's office has completed its autopsy, it has said that it will withhold the official results until the toxicology tests are returned. Historically, those tests, which could indicate the presence of Xanax or other medications, along with alcohol, in the singer's system, will take four to six weeks to come back.

Winter said the investigation into Houston's death was still ongoing and that a cause of death would not be announced before toxicology tests were performed. Asked by reporters, he said lab tests would include "blood and urine, just the routine toxicology tests that we do."

While the information regarding drowning not being the cause of death may have been incorrect, or else given out by a coroner's office employee who was not authorized to speak on the case --- thus the denial --- other information is leaking out. It has been reported that it was actually Whitney Houston's aunt, Mary Jones, who discovered the star's body in the bathtub.

In addition, Cissy Houston has arranged to have the singer's body flown back to Atlanta, as early as Tuesday. The family was told the Coroner's office has no issues with releasing the body because there is no evidence of foul play. Unless the police place a hold on the body, it can be flown back East.

Update: Beverly Hills police held a press conference Monday, confirming that Whitney Houston was found unconscious and submerged in water in her hotel room bathtub.

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