Cocaine linked to Billy Mays death

TV pitchman Billy Mays poses with some of his cleaning products in December 2002. He died on June 28. (Chris O'Meara/Associated Press)

Cocaine played a role in the death of television pitchman Billy Mays, a Florida autopsy report says.

An earlier autopsy showed that Mays, 50, died of a heart attack in his sleep on June 28. His wife had found him unresponsive at their condo in Tampa.

A release Friday from the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office said Mays had used cocaine in the days before his death.

The report said that although Mays died from heart disease, cocaine use was a contributing cause of death.

Mays became a U.S. pop-culture icon with his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean.

With files from The Associated Press

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