Matthew Perry’s death is “still under investigation” as authorities search for a ketamine dealer

Investigators are reportedly still investigating who supplied Matthew Perry with ketamine, seven months after the drug was found in his body at the time of his death.

The FriendsThe actor battled drug abuse for decades and described himself as a “committed addict.”

Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home last October. Post-mortem toxicology reports revealed that the actor had a similar dose of ketamine in his body as doctors would normally give to surgical patients.

After a medical examiner determined his death was an accident, the case was considered closed. However, an investigation into the drug that played a role in Perry’s death is still ongoing, law enforcement sources said TMZ.

Two key questions remain for the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration: Who provided the drug and under what circumstances?

Sources told the outlet that investigators have already interviewed key people with a history of substance abuse in Hollywood who could help them track down Perry’s ketamine dealer. There have been no arrests so far, law enforcement officials told the publication.

In a statement about it The IndependentThe Drug Enforcement Administration said: “The DEA does not confirm or comment on the ongoing investigation.”

On October 28, 2023, a 911 call for cardiac arrest was made from Perry’s home in Pacific Palisades, and first responders found him unresponsive in his hot tub. The actor was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to Iwamasa’s family, Perry’s personal assistant Kenny Iwamasa was said to have been living with the star. It is said that he found the actor face down and unconscious in the water when he returned to the house after running errands Daily Mail.

Just days before his death, Perry posted a picture of himself in the same hot tub on Instagram with the caption: “Oh does that make you feel so good with warm water swirling around?”

A toxicology report confirmed that he had died from the “acute effects of ketamine,” although there was initial speculation that the actor had drowned.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Perry had undergone ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety more than a week before his death. It was ruled that the ketamine in his system did not come from his treatment but from a secondary source.

Despite his wry wit on screen and the fact that he made millions of people around the world laugh, the actor was afflicted with a lifelong addiction and had his first drink at the age of 14.

After a jet ski accident in 1997, Perry became addicted to Vicadin, a powerful opioid-based painkiller. “I liked how it made me feel and wanted to get more,” he said People magazine in the early noughties.

Stays in rehab followed: first in 1997, followed by a relapse in 2000. A year later he drank vodka by the gallon and arrived on the set of Friends sleepless and shaky, he said.

While filming the later seasons of FriendsPerry was constantly drunk, high or hungover – which raised concerns among the other cast members. Jennifer Aniston said the actor smelled good vibes as they filmed the sitcom together.

At his worst, Perry drank a bottle of vodka every night, snorted cocaine, took opiates – including 55 Vicodin tablets a day – and benzodiazepines, according to his memoirs. Friends, lovers and the big, terrible thing.

He said he spent $9 million on his pursuit of sobriety over the course of his life, attended 6,000 AA meetings and went to rehab a total of 15 times, he wrote in his memoirs. By 2021, he said he had overcome his addiction.

Today, Perry’s legacy lives on with his Friends The character of Chandler Bing has been immortalized on screen, and his friends and co-stars still mourn his loss. On Sunday, Perry’s Friends Co-star Courtney Cox said she still talks to him nearly seven months after his death and “feels like” he is close to her.

“I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to work so closely with him for so many years,” she said during an appearance on CBS. Sunday morning . “He visits me often if we believe in it.”

This article has been updated to include the DEA’s response