14 DAY TRIAL // Maria de Villota, a Formula 1 test driver making the news last year for losing an eye in a crash, has been found dead in a hotel room.
According to the Daily Mail, de Villota's body was recovered from the Hotel Sevilla Congresos in Seville after being discovered there this morning.
“Dear friends, Maria has left us. She has had to go to heaven like all angels. We are thankful to God for the extra year and a half she gave us,” her family has said in a statement.
Her death comes three days before the Monday launch of her book, “Life Is A Gift.” The memoir was set to chronicle the moments after her horrific crash and how she coped with the injury.
A preliminary report suggests that her death has come naturally, and a source in her family suggests that she might have died in a heart attack.
“Everything is pointing to Maria's death being the result of natural causes.
“Officers found no suspicious substances or medicines in her room and there were no signs of violence either in the room or on her body,” a spokesman for Spain's National Police in Seville informs.
An autopsy will be performed to pinpoint the exact cause of death. There was no information on whether or not the driver suffered from an underlying heart condition.
“The post-mortem has yet to take place but there is nothing at this stage to indicate a violent death or suicide,” the police source adds.
Friends rule out suicide in Maria's case. Alfonso Jimenez, director of Spain's Young Sport Foundation, shares that she has sent him an email 7 hours before her death. She was inviting him to her Monday book launch.
“I read the email, went to bed and woke up this morning to discover she was dead. I'm in total shock. There was no one with more desire for life than Maria de Villota,” he notes.