Heart disease likely killed Billy Mays

TV pitchman Billy Mays most likely died of heart failure, not from being hit on the head during a rough landing on a US Airways flight, the medical examiner in Tampa said.

The Monday morning autopsy showed no evidence of head trauma or drug abuse, said Medical Examiner Vern Adams. A full autopsy will be completed within eight to 10 weeks.

Mays was found dead early Sunday morning by his wife at his Tampa home.

He’d been hit on the head during a rough landing on a flight from Philadelphia and reports circulated that it was the cause of his death. However, the autopsy showed he had hardening of the arteries. He was taking pain medication after having two hip replacement surgeries, but those pills did not contribute to his death, Adams said.

Mays had told his wife that he didn’t feel well on Saturday night and went to bed around 10 p.m.

Newly released 911 tapes reveal that a frantic woman telling operators that she found Mays “cold and unresponsive.” The caller, who isn’t identified, said his lips were purple and he was cold to the touch and not breathing. A second person then gets on the phone and tells the operator that Mays is dead.