MORE testing is required to determine the cause of death of a prominent French scholar whose body was found in the bed of his Manhattan luxury hotel room, the city's medical examiner says.
So far, an investigation into the death of Richard Descoings, who was found on Tuesday, has turned up no obvious signs of foul play or trauma to his body.
Empty alcohol bottles and prescription medication were discovered in his seventh-floor room. There was no evidence that anyone had broken in to where Mr Descoings, head of one of France's top colleges, had been staying, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said on Wednesday.
A laptop computer and a mobile phone believed to belong to Mr Descoings were found on a third-floor ledge below his room at The Michelangelo hotel, police said, but it was unclear how they got there.
An autopsy performed on Wednesday required further study. The medical examiner's office said it would perform toxicology and other tests.
The 53-year-old Descoings, who pioneered in opening elitist schools to the underprivileged, had been scheduled to appear on Tuesday at a conference at Columbia University.
When Mr Descoings didn't show up and failed to answer repeated phone calls, organisers contacted hotel security, police said. The hotel called emergency dispatchers after his body was found on Tuesday afternoon.
In France, news of the death prompted praise for Mr Descoings from President Nicolas Sarkozy and other high-profile figures.
Mr Descoings' tenure as director of the Paris Institute of Political Studies, or Sciences Po, marked "a historic turning point in awareness of scandalous social elitism in France", Sarkozy said.
France is well-known for its elitist educational system, in which only a handful of schools, including Sciences Po, produce a majority of the country's top leaders. One in four students now benefit from scholarships, aimed at helping talented students with modest financial means.
Mr Descoings also made the school "world renowned" after he opened it to foreign students, Mr Sarkozy said.
Mr Sarkozy's rival in presidential elections and Sciences Po alumnus, Francois Hollande, spoke of his emotion at the loss of a man much admired for his friendliness, attentiveness and human touch.
Charles Rivkin, the US ambassador to France, praised the scholar's international approach.
"His devotion to opening Sciences Po to international students, including many Americans, was admirable," Mr Rivkin said in a statement.
Hundreds of students held a memorial service on Wednesday on the university grounds.
"Classes finished early this morning for the service, but the courtyard where it was taking place was so packed we had to watch from inside the building," international student Darko Manakovski said. He estimated that 1000 people attended.
"Everyone was shocked, really upset," he said.
According to witnesses, hordes of teachers and students, many visibly shaken, packed the tree-filled courtyard in the heart of Paris' Left Bank during the hour-long service, closed to the media.
Hundreds of others visited the Sciences Po Facebook page to pay their respects with messages and photos.
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