Unfortunately, Kathy Scruggs died of a morphine overdose and perished peacefully in her sleep. She was found dead in her Cherokee County home, wearing an Atlanta Motor Speedway T-shirt and panties, on 2 September 2001.

The GBI medical examiner claimed her cause of death was acute morphine toxicity. He was unable to determine whether the overdose was intentional or accidental.

The examiner also said there was severe coronary artery atherosclerosis that might have contributed to her death.

After inaccurately accusing Mr. Jewell of the bombing incident, most people think that the case was the reason for her death. But no one can claim this is the truth for her demise.

Mr. Jewell suedThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution and other news outlets, most of them settled. But AJC did not back down and fought the lawsuit.

Scruggs was then ordered to reveal her source for the story or else the penalty will be jail time was declared in 1999. She refused to tell and avoided jail on appeal.