Video: 'Karen Carpenter Dies 2.4.1983 T.V. Coverage 001 by Ken Bertwell Jerry Dunphy'

(Friday, February 4, 1983, 9:51 a.m. PST) — Singer and drummer Karen Carpenter, who blended her silky voice with her brother Richard to record more than two dozen hits as the Carpenters, died today of heart failure due to complications from anorexia nervosa. She was 32.

Fire officials said the Grammy-award winner was found shortly before 9 a.m. PST collapsed in a closet at her parents’ home in Downey, California, in full cardiac arrest. Carpenter was pronounced dead at Downey Community Hospital at 9:51 a.m. PST.

Video: 'Karen Carpenter Dies 2.4.1983 T.V. Coverage 002 by Ken Bertwell Anorexia Nervosa'

An autopsy, released on March 11, 1983, ruled out drug overdose, attributing death to “emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa.”

Carpenter was discovered to have a blood sugar level of 1,110 milligrams per deciliter, more than ten times the average.

Video: 'Karen Carpenter Dies 2.4.1983 TV Coverage 003 by Ken Bertwell'

Two years later, the coroner told colleagues that Carpenter’s heart failure was caused by repeated use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter emetic often used to induce vomiting in cases of overdosing or poisoning.

This was disputed by psychotherapist Steven Levenkron, who said that he had never known her to use ipecac and that he had not seen evidence that she had been vomiting.

Video: 'KAREN CARPENTER `TOO YOUNG TO DIE`'

Carpenter’s friends were convinced that she had abused laxatives and thyroid medication to maintain her low body weight and thought this had started after her marriage began to crumble.

Carpenter’s work continues to attract praise, including appearing on Rolling Stone’s 2010 list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.