Body of US star flown home Friday

The US Embassy in Bangkok facilitated the transfer of his body which left Suvarnabhumi Airport at about 6.50pm.

The 72-year-old actor was found dead inside his suite at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park hotel on Thursday. His body was naked and his sexual organ was tied by a rope. There was no trace of a fight or struggle at the scene.

Police quoted witnesses as saying that Carradine had some drinks at the lobby bar of the hotel where he was staying on Wednesday night.

Carradine, whose body was found hanging in a wardrobe in his suite on Thursday, left the bar at about 9pm, witnesses said.

A security guard of the hotel accompanied Carradine to the lift.

A record of his room key card showed that he entered the room at 9pm. There was no record indicating that he left the room thereafter.

The police investigation showed no evidence to support a theory that Carradine was murdered, he said.

Police found only one glass on the table in the room with no other fingerprints on it. However, the police have not yet ruled out the murder theory.

A housekeeper who found Carradine's body told police that she knocked the door of his suite at about 11am and no one answered.

She therefore used a central key card to enter the room and found his body in the wardrobe. Some hotel staff have told police that during his stay at the hotel, the star was friendly and showed no signs of depression.

"Carradine always smiled and seemed in a good mood. He loved to say hi to hotel staff," police quoted the hotel staff as saying.

However, he seemed to prefer staying in the hotel to going out.