Whitney Houston died face down in bathtub

Oprah opened the broadcast by saying "members of the family told me she (Houston) was face down and naked" in the bathtub, and Patricia revealed that Houston's assistant, Mary, discovered the singer's body in the hotel room bathtub.

A security guard who is Patricia Houston's brother tried in vain to resuscitate Houston in the room but was unsuccessful.

He was "trying to revive her to the point of exhaustion," Patricia Houston said, "and I called his name. I said, 'Ray ... let it go.' They (paramedics) asked him to move. He was on his knees. He said, 'I tried.' He was so out of breath."

A tear rolled down Patricia Houston's face as she recalled the sight of her sister-in-law lying dead on the hotel room floor. "She had a peacefulness on her, a look on her. She had a peaceful look," Patricia Houston said.

Winfrey asked Patricia Houston if she believed drugs were involved in the singer's death. Patricia Houston said she believed the pop star's worse days of drug abuse were behind her, although she stopped short of saying Houston was not on drugs or drinking on the day of she died.

"I don't think drugs (were) an issue for her before her death. I don't know what happened that day. Do you understand what I'm saying," Patricia Houston said.

Finally, Winfrey asked Houston's brother Gary whether Brown, whom Whitney Houston divorced in 2007, was asked by Houston's family not to attend the singer's funeral and Gary replied "Absolutely not." Brown did turn up for the funeral, but left early, blaming a mix-up with security over seating.

He said his family was not angry about a picture of Houston in her casket that was printed in the tabloids following her death, and added that his mother long ago had premonitions about a young demise for his sister.

"I remember my mother used to say ... Whitney's not going to be with us too long," Gary Houston said. "She's an angel. She's a gift."

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