After the sudden death of Bob Saget on January 9, at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, numerous theories were propounded for the reason his fatal head injuries had occurred, including the initial supposition from investigators that he had struck the back of his head against his hotel bed’s headboard.
But investigators now believe Saget blacked out in the his bathroom and fell backward onto the marble floor, according to People Magazine.
“Authorities checked the marble end tables and counters in the bathroom, but found no traces of blood or hair,” People reported. “Now, they believe that Saget lost consciousness in the bathroom and fell backward onto the marble floor, striking his head. Police believe that a groggy Saget regained consciousness and stumbled into bed, where he again lost consciousness and died.”
“Our sources say the authorities say it’s most likely Bob struck a portion of the bed’s headboard that is not padded. We’re told it’s wood, and the best guess is he hit his head. Since he was under the covers, they believe he quickly lost consciousness,” TMZ had reported on February 16.
Saget’s family had issued a statement after his death in which they said, “The authorities have determined that Bob passed from head trauma. They have concluded that he accidentally hit the back of his head on something, thought nothing of it and went to sleep. No drugs or alcohol were involved.”
Dr. Jason Freeman, a neurologist and stroke expert, had told MSNBC, “I think the autopsy report does raise a number of questions about the nature and extent of the injuries. If we typically see slip and falls that that occur usually in the bathroom, someone hits the back of their head on the shower or the bathroom floor. These injuries described in detail in the autopsy report seem to go beyond that. And I think as you described in your opening this is where some of the medical professionals began to speculate about what could have caused the actual injuries.”
“I would agree that the injuries as described just do typically form because of significant head trauma,” he added. “So again, when someone slips and falls and hits the back of their head, there’s actually room for the brain to shift between the back in front of the head and cause some of the injuries as described in the autopsy report. But the degree of those fractures, especially the orbital and frontal bones, is typically seen with high impact traumas that you might see in a motor vehicle accident, blunt force trauma, and again, someone particularly falling from a height. And so I think it raises the question, maybe was there more than one fall? Did he fall backwards and then fall forwards in an unprotected manner?”
Chief Medical Examiner Joshua Stephany stated in his autopsy that Saget died from blunt head trauma and did not involve drugs; the autopsy showed Saget’s head had suffered severe fractures. With additional fractures around his eye sockets.
Surveillance video showed Saget exiting the elevator of the ninth floor of the hotel and walking toward his room. “Authorities who have seen the footage tell PEOPLE that nothing seemed out of the ordinary: Saget showed no sign of distress,” People noted.
Video showed Saget used his key card to enter his room, placed a “Do Not Disturb” card on the doorknob, then locked the door once inside the room.
At the time of his death, Saget was on the road as part of his “I Don’t Do Negative Comedy Tour.” A hotel employee told People, “He was cracking jokes, waving to people in the lobby. When people asked for selfies, he would run over and grab their phones to take the pictures with them, joking the whole time. He was a ball (of) happy, positive energy.”
An Orange County Sheriff’s deputy admitted to People, “It’s definitely an unusual case. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”