Three of Tammy Wynette's daughters are lobbying for a belated autopsy on their mother--the First Lady of Country Music, who died last April 6 at age 55. According to local reports, the Wynette clan wants to know how their superstar mom "really" died.
The official story is that Wynette, with a history of various ailments, was felled by a blood clot to the lungs as she slept at her home. The singer's personal physician, Wallis Marsh, made the declaration of death. No autopsy was performed.
The Wynette daughters, including her two by singer George Jones, reportedly believe their mother might have died due to overmedication--and they want the body exhumed.
They wrote to the Nashville coroner last November. But the requests remained under wraps until the supermarket tabloid The Globe recently snapped up the letters.
"I find it hard to believe you can tell how my mother died by looking at her and not doing an autopsy," daughter Jackie Daly wrote to the coroner.
An ex-worker at the local medical examiner's officer told Nashville's CBS affiliate Thursday that he thinks the Wynette daughters have good reason to be cautious.
"I believe they have a right to know why their mother died. She was not that old and I feel that because of her situation, her living situation, that it needs to be relooked at," Chris Tassie said to WTVF-TV.
The station reports the Wynette daughters will meet with Nashville coroner Dr. Bruce Levy on Monday. So far Levy's office has not moved to open an investigation.
Wynette's string of country hits included the anthemic, "Stand By Your Man."