Mike Starr, Alice in chains bassist, found dead, say police

(CBS/AP) SALT LAKE CITY - Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr has been found dead in a home near Salt Lake City's downtown area, according to police.

Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Shawn Josephson says officers responded to the home Tuesday afternoon. He says details about the cause or circumstances of the 44-year-old's death were not immediately available.

It wasn't immediately clear who owned the home or phoned police.

Starr was arrested in Utah last month after police said they caught him with an unmarked bottle of prescription pills. 

He was arrested on two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance for 6 pills of a painkiller called Opana and 6 pills of Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug. Police said he did not have prescriptions for either pill, according to TMZ.

Starr was the original bassist for Alice in Chains, an iconic Seattle-based band that made its mark on the grunge scene of the early 1990s. He left the group in 1993.

Josephson says Salt Lake City police arrested Starr last month on suspicion of possession of medications without a required prescription.

Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley died from complications related to drug addiction in 2002.

Starr appeared on the third season of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" in 2009.

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February 18, 2011 - Former Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr arrested for unprescribed painkillers