'Storage Wars' Star Mark Balelo Commits Suicide
by Tracy Phillips | February 12, 2013 at 8:14 AM | Celebrity Deaths , Storage Wars
Mark Balelo of "Storage Wars" (Photo: A&E)
" Storage Wars " cast member Mark Balelo committed suicide Monday, three days after he was arrested on drug charges, TMZ reports.
Balelo was found dead in his car, which was parked and running inside the garage of his auction house in Simi Valley, Calif. The cause of death is presumed to be carbon monoxide poisoning. His age is unknown.
Balelo had been arrested Saturday on suspicion possession of a controlled substance and was scheduled to appear in court on Feb. 19.
When he was released from jail, Balelo was said to be "distraught," according to TMZ, and called his fiancee to "come over because he was afraid he might hurt himself." The story says the two were together in his office on Sunday, and after several hours, he seemed "better" and she left that evening.
His body was discovered Monday morning by one of his employees. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday.
Balelo appeared on several episodes of the A&E series over the past few seasons, where he was nicknamed "Rico Suave" by the other buyers, whom he reportedly irked by showing up with large of amounts of cash and easily outbidding them.
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On his Facebook page, a woman identified as his fiancee Elizabeth Metzidis posted this message to fans:
"Thank you to everyone for all your thoughts and kind words. Mark lived for his friends and family and would so appreciate everyone here for their love. We are truly and completely devastated by this. Mark was everything. EM"
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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