Bob Saget told the crew backstage at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, Florida that he was struggling to get over the long Covid and was not feeling well shortly before he went on stage for what would be his life’s last performance, DailyMail.com has taught.
Newly released audio of interviews conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in the days following the comedian’s shocking death earlier this year and obtained by DailyMail.com, reveals for the first time the star’s health concerns on the eve of his death.
The case was found dead Sunday, Jan. 9, after mysteriously banging his head in his suite at Orlando’s Ritz-Carlton, a two-hour drive from the venue of Ponte Vedra Beach, where he last performed. His death has been condemned as an accident.
Now, the recently released audio reveals that show runner Rosalie Cocci, 37, told investigators that Saget had complained of ill health in the run-up to his last appearance and appeared to “speak himself up” until he felt okay.
She said: ‘He said he had long-lasting Covid and it took his body a long time to get over it.
Audio of interviews conducted by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in the days following the death of the Case earlier this year has been obtained by DailyMail.com
Bob Saget is seen healthy and smiling in a selfie taken by a hotel clerk who parked his rental car at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grand Lakes just before his death
‘He said his hearing had been turned off and that was the case that night. He asked the sound guys to turn everything up.
‘And [he said] that he had been ill the night before — his hearing was impaired, and he had a sore throat. He was glad he had lozenges for the stage. ‘
Show runner Rosalie Cocci, 37, told investigators that Saget had complained about her health up until her last appearance
The case was tested positive for Covid at his autopsy despite the fact that he had reportedly recovered from the disease a few weeks before his death.
According to Cocci, I heard him say, ‘I’m not feeling well, but I’m ready to do the show. That’s what I’m doing this for. ‘ He seemed to be talking himself up. ‘
But, she said, as he walked on stage, performing for two hours, ‘he seemed okay. He made jokes. ‘
‘He did not sweat, he did not miss a beat, nothing blurred … He came out very energetic.’
Both Cocci and others who worked on The Case that night remembered how happy he appeared and how minimal the star’s demands were.
Richard Stanford, 43, production coordinator for St. Augustine, Florida, recalled that the only things on Case Rider were diet cola, regular cola, and diet sugar-free Red Bull. The sandwich, which had been on the list, was cut at the last minute.
Stanford remembered chatting with Saget for an hour or so after his show ended, telling investigators the star had shown him and a few others a ‘South Pole’ for a show he was working on.
He was excited, he said, about the prospect of a documentary he was working on and was going to film a Netflix comedy special.
Stanford said, “The magic was there again.”
His colleague Kevin Stone (left), vice-president of the Forum Theater, Jacksonville, and the man who commissioned him to perform at the Ponte Vedra that night, described the case as ‘high on life’. Richard Stanford (right) said, ‘The magic was there again.’
The backstage team of his last show at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall, Florida, revealed to investigators that the Case told them he felt sick
This chart shows all the injuries that Saget has sustained, which resulted in his death due to a brain haemorrhage.
His colleague Kevin Stone, 44, vice president of the Forum Theater, Jacksonville and the man who commissioned him to perform at the Ponte Vedra that night, described the case as ‘high on life’.
Stone, who worked on the Case several times and described his loss as the death of a family member, said: ‘He loved it [the show] and was so excited. He seemed so happy.
‘He could not have been happier and could not imagine doing anything else. There really was not a nicer guy ‘.
He wished him good night in the parking lot near midnight that night, Stone, who had booked Saget to perform in Jacksonville just three months earlier, said, ‘He rolled down the window and said,’ Thank you again. ‘ And we joked, ‘See you in a few months.’
Stone described the Saw as ‘on Cloud 9’.
When he heard about his death the following day, Stone said, ‘I thought it was a joke.’
In a gripping moment, he told investigators that the Case had become emotionally charged on stage when he saw a father with three daughters in the audience.
Stone said, ‘He cried a little. He reminded Bob of him and his three daughters. ‘
Crime scene photos show the inside of Room 962 at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, where Full House legend Bob Saget broke his skull and died
Police cataloged all surfaces and objects in Room 962 at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grand Lakes, while searching for anything that could have caused Full House legend The Skull Fracture of the Case. The case bedside table showing his iPhone, iPad, glasses, AirPods, Chapstick and more appears
The cache of photos includes a picture of the upholstered headboard over the comedian’s bed as well as his shower cubicle, bathtub, desk and minibar
According to valet Orlando Nunez, who was one of the last people to see the Case alive, the comedian was eager to return to California to be reunited with his family.
Nunez took the keys to the Case’s white Chevrolet Impala rental when he returned to the Ritz-Carlton in the early hours of Sunday morning. They posed for a quick selfie – the last picture of the Case taken.
Nunez told officers that nothing seemed unusual during their ten-minute conversation, but that the Case was looking forward to coming home.
According to Nunez, ‘he said his family was ill and the next morning he planned to fly home to see them.’
It was a journey he was destined to never undertake. The case was found by hotel staff the following afternoon after concerned family unable to raise him requested a welfare check.
Recently released photographs of the crime scene show how police cataloged every surface and object in Room 962 while looking for anything that could have caused the devastating skull fractures that the Full House star sustained.
But the photos, as published by DailyMail.com, raise more questions than answers as they include a picture of the star’s carpeted room and upholstered headboard, as well as his shower, bath, desk and minibar.
Investigators never found out exactly what happened to Saget in the early hours of January 9, but have speculated that he hit his head on the upholstered headboard or slipped and fell on the carpeted floor. His skin was not broken, which led investigators to believe he did not hit his head in the marble bathroom.
Last week, a judge agreed to issue a permanent court order banning the release of graphic photos and videos related to the death of the Case, after his desperate family and wife Kelly Rizzo filed a lawsuit to prevent them from appearing in news articles and circulating online.