It's only been a day since the talented Australian actor Heath Ledger passed away in his New York City apartment, and already there is a huge amount of information related to the circumstances of his tragic passing swirling around, a mixture of fact, speculation and rumors that makes me think the worse is yet to come. For Heath's sake (and for the sake of his daughter, close family and friends), I honestly hope this doesn't turn into an Anna Nicole Smith-like media circus, and that Heath will be able to rest in peace, his memory untroubled by pointless speculations and allegations. There's little chance for any of that at the moment though, and considering that already the dark shadow of drug abuse seems to loom over Heath's final months, I have a feeling we haven't seen anything yet - and I'm saying that in the worse way possible.

Some things are clear, though. For one, the universal reaction to Heath's death was one of shock, gratitude and compassion. Tributes have been pouring in from fans all over the world, and we can only hope that they will provide a little bit of support for his grieving family and close friends. Then, it has officially been confirmed that the actor's body will be laid to rest in his native city of Perth, Australia. Another fact is that filming for "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (the movie Heath was working on) has officially been shut down, and the cast and crew were let go. And finally, the autopsy conducted on Heath's body yesterday ruled that both the cause and manner of death were inconclusive. What this means is that more tests (toxicology and tissue analysis among them) will have to be performed before we can know for sure what caused Heath's heart to stop beating. The results will be back in ten to fourteen days, and then we'll know the truth.

Everything else connected to the cause of death is pure speculation. There were rumors that claimed the Police "recovered a $20 bill with narcotic residue on it" as well as "several drug packets containing an unknown substance" from the actor's apartment, but it was later claimed that the $20 bill was tested for drugs and it came back clean. There were several kinds of prescription pills in the house, including prescription anxiety drugs Valium and Zoloft, along with the prescription sleeping medication Ambien - but the pills were not strewn across the bed as it was initially reported. At this point, all we can do is wait and see - and prepare ourselves for another tidal wave of speculations and conspiracy theories. It's not going to be pretty...