A Pop Star's Shocking Death & Tragic Final Days

FRIENDS AND FAMILY MOURN THE ONE DIRECTION SINGER AS AUTHORITIES INVESTIGATE HIS SUDDEN DEATH AT AGE 31

- BRIANNE TRACY

In one of his final Snapchat videos on Oct. 16, Liam Payne painted an idyllic picture of his time vacationing in Buenos Aires while chatting about his plans for the day: brunch with his girlfriend, influencer Kate Cassidy, and polo at the ranch where they were staying. “It’s a lovely day here,” he said, panning to a scenic field view. “We’re enjoying ourselves.”

But the reality was much different: Payne and Cassidy, 25, had already left the ranch days earlier, and just hours after the former One Direction star’s post went live, Buenos Aires police revealed that the singer had died at 31 after he jumped from the balcony of his third-floor room at the CasaSur Pa lermo Hotel. Payne—who checked in solo to the hotel on Oct. 13 after Cassidy returned home to Florida—died from multiple injuries and “internal and external” hemorrhages after falling into a hotel courtyard.

It was a tragic end to the onetime teen idol’s life, which had been mired in both addiction and legal troubles in recent years. Things only got murkier in the days after Payne’s death, as shocking details emerged about his final hours. A source says that from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Payne spent time with two women (reportedly escorts) in his hotel room, and that later an argument erupted in the lobby between Payne and the women over payment. In a chilling 911 call made at 5:01 p.m. (translated here), CasaSur’s chief receptionist told police that Payne seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and drugs: “We need someone urgently because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger.” A hotel guest says that around 5 p.m. he heard a “loud, violent scream,” and when he went to the lobby minutes later, “the street was full of cop cars.” According to a local outlet, at 5:07 p.m. a report was made that a man had fallen from the third floor, and by 5:12 p.m. emergency services had arrived at the hotel.