Whitney Houston was under water and apparently unconscious when she was found in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub, police said on Monday, as the singer's family prepared to send her body to her native New Jersey for a funeral.
The 48-year-old singer was found unresponsive approximately at 3.30 p.m. on Saturday by a member of her personal staff in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, just hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.
She was pulled from the tub by members of her staff, and hotel security was promptly notified, said Beverly Hills police.
Further details of Houston's death are not being released to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
The police said it was a coroner's case and police were awaiting the determination of the cause of death. The coroner's office says toxicology testing is continuing.
There were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston's body, but officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they have toxicology results, which will likely take weeks to obtain.
Two people who have spoken with Houston's family said the singer's body will be taken home to New Jersey late on Monday for a funeral to be held at week's end.
