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DJ AM FOUND DEAD
Disc jockey DJ AM has been found dead in his New York flat, nearly a year after surviving a fiery plane crash which killed four others. He was 36.
The celebrity spinner, whose real name was Adam Goldstein, was found by police on Friday afternoon after a worried friend reported he had not been seen for two days.
The cause of death has not been determined but New York Police Department Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said there were no signs of foul play.
Police sources said prescription drugs were found in the flat.
Goldstein's publicist said in a statement: “The circumstances surrounding his death are unclear. Out of respect to his family and loved ones, please respect their privacy at this time.”
Last September he and Blink 182's Travis Bake managed to leap from a burning Lear Jet as it ran off the runway before take-off in Columbia, South Carolina.
The four others on the plane were killed.
He said last month: “There's no reason why I lived and they didn't. It's something that I struggle with every day, you know, kind of wondering.
“But I've realised I'm never really going to know. I'm alive, and I'm here, and I have another chance. So I have to do something better with my life this time.”
DJ AM, who was engaged to Nicole Richie in 2005, was due to work at Rain nightclub at the Palms hotel in Las Vegas on Friday night, a regular gig.
A source at the club told People magazine: “He never drinks alcohol – ever. Every time he's there he drinks Fiji water and Red Bull – six Fijis and six Red Bulls every night.”
On Tuesday he played at Dusk in Atlantic City. He was a part owner of the club, which was closed on Friday evening.
Goldstein had struggled with weight, drugs and depression.
In his 20s he ballooned to more than 21 stone and was addicted to cocaine.
His life changed in 1997 when after a night doing cocaine he sat in front of a mirror and put a gun in his mouth.
Recalling the event last month he said: “I pulled the trigger and it jammed. And I remember sitting there thinking, 'You know, I can't even kill myself.'”
The next morning a friend who had kicked drugs made him get help.
He kicked his drug habit and underwent gastric bypass surgery, losing more than eight stone.
DJ AM recently finished filming an eight-part television series, Gone Too Far, in which he talked about his drug use.
A source said he had recently split from model Hayley Wood and was depressed.