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Police sources say Liam Payne's body will be returned to his family
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Police sources say Liam Payne's body will be returned to his family

Liam Payne's body will be returned to his family, two police sources told ABC News.

Sources said prosecutors gave permission for Payne's body to be released to his father, Geoff Payne.

According to the British Embassy in Buenos Aires, Geoff Payne has been in the Argentine capital since October 18, trying to repatriate his son's body to his home country of England for burial.

Sources had previously said that the release of Payne's body would depend on the court's findings in the criminal case.

Singer-songwriter Liam Payne poses on the red carpet upon arrival for the BRIT Awards 2019 in London on February 20, 2019.

Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images, FILE

The One Direction singer died on October 16 after falling from the third floor balcony of his hotel room at Hotel CasaSur in Palermo, Buenos Aires.

Watch Price of Fame: The Liam Payne Story – A Special Edition of 20/20 airing Sunday, November 3rd at 10pm ET on ABC and streaming on Hulu beginning November 4th.

Emergency services were called to deal with a man who was acting erratically and may have been under the influence of alcohol, Alberto Crescenti, the director of SAME, Buenos Aires' emergency medical service, previously told ABC News. Crescenti said Payne's body was found in the hotel's courtyard, where he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Since his death, a partial autopsy revealed that Payne had multiple substances in his system the day he fell to his death from his hotel room.

The preliminary report, released a day after his death, said the singer died of “multiple trauma” and “internal and external bleeding.” Twenty-five injuries were found on his body, all of which were caused by his fall, the autopsy showed.

Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation say CCTV footage reviewed by police appeared to show several drug exchanges between a dealer and a hotel employee that occurred before Payne's death.

Sources said police are still investigating whether the hotel employee supplied Payne with drugs.

Argentine officials searched the hotel on October 23 as part of the ongoing investigation into the late singer's death.

Liam Payne attends the world premiere of 'I Am Bolt' at Odeon Leicester Square on November 28, 2016 in London.

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

There is apparently CCTV footage that appears to show Payne sleeping in the hotel lobby with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, sources told ABC News.

Sources say police never believed Payne's death was suicide or intentional.

Police also noted the presence of two female escorts at the hotel in the hours before Payne's death, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.

ABC News has reached out to the hotel for comment.

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