Anna Nicole Smith found dead at casino hotel

The former Playboy model, Anna Nicole Smith, who married an octogenarian billionaire after they met in a strip club, died yesterday at a hotel in Florida. Smith, 39, collapsed at the Seminole Hard Rock Cafe Hotel, where she had been staying since Monday. She was taken to a hospital near Palm Beach. It was not immediately clear how she died. Smith had reportedly been suffering from a fever the previous night but initial speculation suspected heart failure or a pulmonary embolism. Smith had fought a long battle with her weight – she famously lost 70 pounds on a single crash diet. She recently said that she had been suffering from depression and may have been taking anti-depressants. Only days ago, the heiress had been ordered by a judge to submit her baby daughter to a DNA to end a dispute over the identity of the father. Friends said last night they believed her death was drug related. A post-mortem examination is to be held today. The hotel in which she was found collapsed is attached to a Native Indian-run casino. Police said Smith had been a “frequent patron” of the hotel. Her nurse phoned the emergency services for help after discovering Smith in her hotel room yesterday afternoon. A bodyguard tried to resuscitate her before paramedics arrived and took her to hospital. She was pronounced dead an hour later. The former stripper, sometime actress and ex-model for Guess Jeans, fought a decade-long battle for part of the £910 million fortune left to her by the oil tycoon J Howard Marshall III. Smith was 26 when she married Mr Marshall, who was 89, after they met in a strip club in 1994. Mr Marshall’s chauffeur had taken him there to cheer him up after the death of his wife. Mr Marshall died 14 months after they married, leaving his wife to fight for his money with her stepson, E Pierce Marshall. The case went as far as the Supreme Court. Smith won the case but had yet to receive the money when she died. Last year she faced further trauma when her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died in her hospital room just a few days after she had given birth to a daughter. A medical examiner hired by the family said he had methadone and two antidepressants in his system when he died. Low levels of the three drugs interacted to cause an accidental death, he said. Smith had also been fighting a paternity battle with an ex-boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, over her daughter, Dannielynn. Smith claimed the father of her baby daughter was her lawyer, Howard K Stern. Smith was born Vicki Lynn Hogan on Nov 28, 1967, in Mexia, Texas. Her parents divorced, and she was raised by her mother and aunt. She first wed at 17 and had a son Daniel, before getting divorced. After working as a Wal-mart cashier, she became an exotic dancer in Houston, where she met Mr Marshall. She was voted Playboy Playmate of the Year 1993. R.I.P. Anna   ………………….Drugs are not cool..    Team IXGAMES