Lisa Marie Presley, the late daughter of rock ‘n’ roll icon Elvis Presley, died of sequelae of small bowel obstruction, an intestinal blockage, according to a newly released report on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s official website. The manner of death was natural.
Small bowel obstruction is a surgical emergency caused by mechanical blockage of the bowel, doctors Michael A. Schick, Sarang Kashyap and Marcelle Meseeha previously wrote, per the National Center for Biotechnology Information. The condition can stem from various diseases, but its leading cause is intra-abdominal adhesions, scar-like tissue in the abdomen that can cause organs to stick together.
Presley’s autopsy report, released Thursday, says Presley’s condition is a common complication from bariatric surgery, which is a weight-loss procedure. The Mayo Clinic says it is often done when other weight loss methods haven’t worked or if a person has a serious medical condition.
Presley died at a Los Angeles hospital Jan. 12 after a brief hospitalization for an apparent cardiac arrest. No indication was made public at the time of what may have caused the medical issue. The autopsy report said she had been complaining of stomach pain earlier in the day.
“It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” said Presley’s mother, Priscilla Presley, in a statement to The Associated Press at the time. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.”
Although Presley was famous from the moment she was born and a singer in her own right, releasing three albums, she truly leaped into the pop culture vortex with her surprise marriage to embattled pop superstar Michael Jackson and, later, Elvis aficionado and actor Nicolas Cage.
Both those marriages were short-lived, although more lasting unions brought four children, including her son, Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020 and was laid to rest at Graceland alongside his grandfather Elvis, and now his mother. Presley left behind three daughters, 34-year-old “Daisy Jones & the Six” actor Riley Keough and 15-year-old twins Harper and Finley Lockwood.
Mostly, Presley, with her hooded eyes and smoldering looks that were patently reminiscent of Elvis, became known largely as keeper of his legacy and inheritor of his estate.
Ten days after her death, friends, family and fans of Presley gathered at Elvis Presley’s home Graceland to pay tribute to her. Holding back tears, Priscilla spoke briefly at the service, reading some words prepared by one of Lisa Marie’s three surviving children.
“I have no idea how to put my mother into words,” Priscilla read. “Truth is, there are too many. Lisa Marie Presley was an icon, a role model, a superhero to many people all over the world.”
Lisa Marie Presley:The only child of Elvis Presley dies at 54 after a brief hospitalization
‘She belonged to us’:Lisa Marie Presley laid to rest near her dad Elvis at Graceland
Contributing: Marco della Cava, Corinne S Kennedy, John Beifuss and Samuel Hardiman, USA TODAY; Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
