From WENN.com

The 52-year-old socialite was found unconscious at her home in Bedford, New York, on Wednesday (16May12) and now a local medical examiner has confirmed reports she committed suicide.

Kennedy died of asphyxiation due to hanging.

Reports suggest she took her life in a barn on her Mount Kisco estate as she faced financial ruin following her divorce from Robert, who is now dating actress Cheryl Hines.

Friends claim she was in a very dark place in the weeks leading up to her death, and was fighting an ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol.

Kennedy checked into rehab in February, 2010, in a desperate effort to clean up, but friends tell the New York Daily News she was a tortured soul who seemed ""lost and alone"" whenever she was spotted out and about in Bedford.