A report from a preliminary medical examiner said former NFL receiver Vincent Jackson could have died for up to three days when he was found in a hotel room in Hillsborough County, Florida, according to WFLA News Tampa.
Jackson was found by a hotel cleanup Monday at approximately 11:30 p.m. He was 38 years old.
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiners Department says hotel staff had entered Jackson’s room Feb. 13 and 14 and found him sitting on the couch in a reclining position, assuming he was asleep. Staff were concerned when they entered the room on Feb. 15 and saw Jackson lying in the same position.
Family members denounced Jackson’s disappearance on February 10. Jackson checked into Homewood Suites on Feb. 11 and spoke with authorities Feb. 12 after Hillsborough County sheriff’s officers located him at the hotel. The missing persons report was canceled after officials assessed Jackson’s well-being.
The exact cause of death is not yet known, although the preliminary medical report showed no signs of trauma.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday it believes Jackson suffered from chronic alcoholism and concussions at the time of his death, according to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, although the family said the sheriff’s office “does not speak on behalf of the Jackson family.”
Allison Gorrell, a spokeswoman for the family, told Ken Bolson The New York Times that the family will donate Jackson’s brain to researchers at Boston University to determine if he had traumatic chromatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease related to recurrent head trauma.
“If Vincent were who he was, he would have wanted to help as many people as possible,” Gorrell said. “It’s something his family wanted to do to get answers to some of his questions.”