Three People of Interest Charged in Connection to Liam Payne’s Death

Update (Nov. 7): The three people detained have been charged with abandonment of a person followed by death, in addition to the supply and facilitation of narcotics, according to local news outlet Fiscales.

The investigation into Liam Payne’s tragic Oct. 16 death continues, and authorities have detained three people of interest in connection to the incident.

“Police detained two hotel workers accused of supplying the drugs and raided the home of a friend, also detained,” David Muir reported from authorities on ABC World News Tonight on Nov. 6. The names of the people detained, and how they knew the late singer, have yet to be released to the public.

Payne died on Oct. 16 at age 31 after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with ex-partner Cheryl Cole. In the days since his death, countless friends, fans and family members have posted messages of grief, including all four of the musician’s former bandmates: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

Two weeks ago, the luxury Argentinian hotel where Payne died was raided by police, who reportedly took away a number of items, including hard drives and CCTV footage. An autopsy report revealed that Payne died from a number of injuries, including internal and external bleeding caused by the fall. In addition, investigators reportedly found a number of illicit substances in his body at the time of death, including a recreational drug called “pink cocaine,” a mixture of substances that often contains ketamine combined with MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids and/or psychoactive substances.

On Nov. 7, the singer’s body was released to his family in order to repatriate his remains to the singer’s native U.K. for burial.