Actor Gary Coleman's estranged parents said the ex-child star's widow and hospital officials have kept them out of the loop with details of Coleman's sudden and shocking death -- and are demanding answers.
Before the "Diff'rent Strokes" actor was taken off of life support last week, parents Sue and Willie Coleman had not spoken to the ex-child star in over ten years, People reported.
"We're not pointing fingers at anyone, but we need to know exactly what happened," Sue Coleman, 67, told People. "We're not angry. We're just concerned. Did our son fall down the stairs? Did he fall in the bathtub? We need to have some closure on our son's life."
In 1989, Coleman accused his parents and his business manager of swindling him out of his acting earnings in a lawsuit that won him $1.3 million. His parents claimed their working class lifestyle as proof of their innocence.
The couple told People they have received no more information about the events leading up to their son's death other than what has been reported by the news media.
A spokesman from the hospital where Coleman received treatment and later died has said only that an "accident" occurred at the actor's home in Santaquin, Utah, resulting in an intracranial hemorrhage.
Hospital officials told People the official cause of death is under investigation and they are with withholding further details at the request of Coleman's wife, 24-year-old Shannon Price.
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Coleman's parents said they have tried many times to reach Price since he entered the hospital. Their efforts to find out about their son's condition from his wife have been met with silence, they said.
"We respect the relationship our son had with Shannon," Sue Coleman told People. "When we found out he got married, we thought, 'Well, at least he has someone in his life who he cares about and who cares about him.' We were happy about that. But it's frustrating that we haven't heard from the Price family. But it's possible they didn't even know we existed. Gary may have told her that he didn't have any family."
