Matthew Perry’s death remains 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 system at the time of his death.

The FriendsThe actor struggled with drug abuse for decades and described himself as a “completed addict.”

Perry, 54, was found dead in the hot tub of his Los Angeles home last October. Postmortem toxicology reports found the actor had a similar dose of ketamine in his system to what doctors would normally give surgical patients.

The case was considered closed after a medical examiner ruled his death an accident, but 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 newspaper that investigators have already interviewed key people with a history of drug abuse in Hollywood who could help them track down Perry’s ketamine dealers. No arrests have been made so far, law enforcement officials told the newspaper.

In a statement to The IndependentThe Drug Enforcement Administration stated: “The DEA does not confirm or comment on ongoing investigations.”

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

Perry’s personal assistant Kenny Iwamasa was reportedly living with the star, according to Iwamasa’s family. He is said to have found the actor unconscious and face down in the water when he returned home after running errands, according to the Daily Mail.

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

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

According to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, Perry had been receiving ketamine infusion therapy to treat depression and anxiety more than a week before his death. It was determined that the ketamine in his body did not come from the treatment, but from a secondary source.

Despite his dry humor on screen and being a source of laughter to millions around the world, the actor suffered from addiction throughout his life 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 I wanted more of it,” he said People Magazine in the early 2000s.

What followed were stays in rehab: first in 1997, followed by a relapse in 2000. A year later, he was drinking liters of vodka and died on the set of Friends Sleepless and shaky, he said.

During the filming of the later seasons of FriendsPerry was constantly drunk, high or hungover – which caused concern among the other actors. Jennifer Aniston said the actor gave off an odor of alcohol when they were filming the sitcom together.

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

Over the course of his life, he spent $9 million on his battle with addiction, attended 6,000 AA meetings and visited rehab a total of 15 times, he wrote in his memoirs. By 2021, he had overcome his addiction, he said.

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

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

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