‘Amazing Race’ Producer Dead of Suspected Cocaine Overdose - East Idaho News
Arts & Entertainment

‘Amazing Race’ Producer Dead of Suspected Cocaine Overdose

  Published at

ht jeff rice namibia wy 120223 wmain?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1330016394174Courtesy Josh Gates(KAMPALA, Uganda) — American television producer Jeff Rice was found dead in a hotel in Uganda and police told ABC News he died of an apparent cocaine overdose.

Rice’s body was discovered in a luxury hotel in the capital city of Kampala on Friday.  His assistant Katheryne Fuller was found unconscious and is now recovering at a hospital.

Police say hotel staff noticed a man hanging on a balcony.  When they went to the room, they found Rice’s body on the balcony and Fuller lying in the room. Staff called police and rushed the victims to a hospital where Rice was declared dead, police said.

“Ms. Fuller is slowly recovering, and when she is recovered enough we will be able to talk to her and find out more about what happened,” said Uganda Police Force spokesman Asuman Mugenyi.

Police initially believed Rice and Fuller may have been sickened by some type of food poisoning.  Mugenyi denied reports that Rice was poisoned after he rebuffed a shakedown attempt from local thugs.

Rice was a veteran producer who worked on the latest season of the hit reality series The Amazing Race and the Emmy-nominated Animal Planet series Whale Wars. In addition to raising two young kids, he and his wife Sally Blackman operated a television and film production company called SB Productions in Durban, South Africa.  Fuller was an employee of their company.

Rice and Fuller were not working on Amazing Race in Uganda.  Fuller’s father Stuart Fuller said they were shooting a documentary and other crew members who were with them should know more about what sickened them.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

SUBMIT A CORRECTION