US police say probe into woman's death still active, but family say they weren't informed

A Hong Kong family may yet get justice for the death of Sandra d'Auriol, a mother of three and businesswoman who plunged to her death nearly two years ago.

US investigators say a police probe into the death of d'Auriol at 53 remains active despite the case dragging on for 21 months, but the family say they have been left in the dark.

The jewellery designer and philanthropist fell from the rooftop of a medical clinic in California after 13 hours of surgery.

Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino, a spokesman for the Beverly Hills Police Department in that US state, told the Sunday Morning Post: "The case is still open. We are still waiting for the final report from the coroner."

The report, released to the family in July, confirmed their suspicions. Her death was due to a drug/anaesthesia-related accident rather than suicide. At the time, d'Auriol was in a state of "post-operation psychosis clinical", also known as post-operative neurobehavioural disturbance (POND) - or delirium.

Reacting to the latest update, family spokesman and brother-in-law Guy d'Auriol said: "We were unaware that the [Beverly Hills] police are continuing to investigate this matter. We have not been made aware of any new finding which may have motivated them to keep the file open.