Corey Haim’s mom says the LA coroner called her this morning to give her a heads-up that her son died of pulmonary congestion.

Judy Haim told Maria that she received an early courtesy call from the LA County Coroner’s Office who told her that an autopsy found her son had an enlarged heart and his lungs were filled with water. His cause of death was due to pulmonary congestion.

The Coroner’s Office also told Access that prescription bottles containing four different medications were taken from his room. His mother and manager told the Coroner’s Office those medications were the only ones he was taking, but the Coroner could not confirm if the medications were found in his body.

I don’t know anything about pulmonary congestion, and I’ll wait to weigh in on this until we have a report from the actual LA coroner.

Meanwhile, folks are coming out of the woodwork to talk about Haim and his struggles with drug addiction. Up now: Some actress named Tiffany Shepis who was engaged to Corey. (Actually, Tiffany appears to be a very successful horror flick star. Her IMDB page goes on forever, although you’ve never heard of a single one of her movies.)

The 30-year-old horror film actress and former E! Wild On guest host first met the Lost Boys star “years ago.” When his substance abuse became a problem, she bent over backward to try to help sober him up.

“I was trying, like everyone wants to do, to be Mother Teresa and help somebody, like Corey [Feldman] did and tons of other people in the past,” she says. “I moved him out to Arizona thinking it would help and get him away from everything and the people who were setting him up to fail.”

Shepis claims she’s a “pretty big advocate against” taking drugs, but it wasn’t until she realized she was unable to force Haim to change that she knew she had to put an end to the relationship.

“It didn’t work out,” she says of the move to Tucson. “I broke everything off before he left. There was just no progression, and if somebody doesn’t want to get better…”

The pair regained contact when Haim returned to Los Angeles in early 2009, but stopped speaking six months ago.

“I would go back and forth,” she says of their communication. “I would get insane phone calls, insane emails. Like stuff that you can’t even imagine a person saying to another person. And then I would run into him and he would look half OK and look like he’d gained some weight. I think he had like little mini, two-week instances of sobriety and then hard-core falloffs.”

Shepis says the star’s weapon of choice was typically prescription meds rather than illegal drugs.

“It was only pills,” she says.

It always seems so distasteful when people clamor for TV time after a loved one has passed away. But I guess I wonder what I’d do in the same position. Do these people go into these interviews thinking they’re doing the right thing — taking a chance to eulogize their deceased loved one and remind the world of how loved he or she was — and then get steered off-course by tough interview questions? Or are they all like “Fuck yeah someone died and now I get to be on TV!!!” Or is it somewhere in between?

I’m not going to give my speech again. You know, my don’t-do-drugs speech that I give every time we write about a celebrity overdose. But, ya know, don’t do drugs. And if you find yourself doing drugs and you find you can’t stop, ask for help.

Corey Haim didn’t think he had a problem, but his best friend Corey Feldman did. In fact, Feldman refused to film another season of The Two Coreys with Haim until he addressed his addiction. Haim wouldn’t do that. Here’s what Corey Feldman had to say about this loss:

I was awakened at 8:30 this morning by my brother and sister knocking on my bedroom door. They informed me of the loss of my brother Corey Haim. My eyes weren’t even open all the way when the tears started streaming down my face. I am so sorry for Corey, his mother Judy, his family, my family, all of our fans, and of course my son who I will have to find a way to explain this to when he gets home from school. This is a tragic loss of a wonderful, beautiful, tormented soul, who will always be my brother, family, and best friend. We must all take this as a lesson in how we treat the people we share this world with while they are still here to make a difference. Please respect our families as we struggle and grieve through this difficult time. I hope the art Corey has left behind will be remembered as the passion of that for which he truly lived.

Corey Feldman
“The Two Coreys”

Also weighing in: Producer Nathan Folks, a close friend of Haim:

Corey was a great person that struggled with being a past child actor. The pressure this town has on people to make it is very intense and Corey struggled with drugs all of his life. He was obsessed with vicodin and pain killers. When he came to my house, that was all he wanted.

He worked really hard to overcome his addiction to illegal drugs and was very anti-drugs and was in AA and NA for years which really saddens me. But it seemed like he turned to prescription drugs instead.

I was considering him for one of my next films; he was definitely ready for a comeback. It’s really a shame, he was true victim of this town.

Corey has an adorable mother who must be in shock. She went through a lot with him and to see his legacy end like this must be painful for her.

Heeeeeeeeeey guys just a heads-up that prescription drugs are every bit as lethal — especially for an addict — as street drugs. And I’m pretty sure AA and NA both make that clear, and I’m pretty sure Corey Haim knew it. So let’s just be clear on that — Corey Haim knew the choices he was making spelled doom. I’ve never heard of a drug counselor being like “You’re in the clear with the vicodin as long as you stay away from the cocaine.” Ummm no.

Alyssa Milano, who dated Haim when they were teenagers, tweeted this: “Just woke up to the sad, sad news that Corey Haim passed away. RIP sweet boy.”

Fellow ’80s actor Ralph Macchio wrote on his Twitter, “Always so sad and disturbing when the addiction and demons prevail. RIP Corey Haim.”

Todd Bridges, who has also battled drug addiction after coming to fame as a child star in the ’80s, released a lengthy statement about Haim’s passing: “Corey Haim was a good friend of mine and he will be missed. Too many people are dying way too young and it’s sad because of the loved ones who are left behind to understand what happened and to feel the loss. I hope he’s in a better place. I will always love my Brother, and I will never judge him. I understand his pain, but I also know now there is a way out. I hope anyone who is dealing with the same stuff gets out before it’s too late. Don’t let the death of others fool you into thinking that it cannot happen to you. If you play with fire, you will get burned.”

Leif Garret, who worked with Haim in “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,” released a statement: “This just goes to show that whether it’s street drugs or a prescription from the doctor, that all drugs are dangerous — as we saw with my friend, Heath, as well. No matter what form, it’s not to be taken lightly. Some people are lucky enough to finish the race and others crash and burn. I do not wish this horrible disease of addiction on anybody. I send all my condolences and love to Corey’s family. May he rest in peace.”

This is so, so sad, and I’m just beyond bummed that we’ve lost yet another life to the brutal disease of addiction. Please, please remember that there is help, for the addict and for the family struggling with a loved one’s addiction. The only light of hope I see in these deaths is that they may encourage someone else to seek help for their own addiction and prevent yet another family from enduring this heartbreak.

LAPD sources confirm that Corey Haim was found dead in an apartment complex early this morning from an apparent drug overdose.  Haim was 38 years old and had gained the majority of his fame through 80s cult movies such as The Lost Boys and License to Drive.

After his major motion picture career apparently fizzled out, Haim collaborated with the “other” Corey, Corey Feldman, on their short-lived reality show The Two Coreys, which aired on A&E in 2007 and 2008.  Both boys at that point had admitted to being victims of sexual abuse at a young age.  The two decided not to resign for a third season because Feldman refused to work with Haim until he “cleaned up” his “addictions.”

Haim never made any secret about his previous drug and alcohol addictions; he claimed that he had been in and out of rehab fifteen times or more.

Corey was found this morning at approximately 3:30 AM and authorities are claiming Haim to be victim of an accidental overdose.

RIP, Corey, and may you finally have some peace from your demons.

From his website:

October 29, 2008 – A big mazal tov goes out to COREY — HE IS GETTING MARRIED!! The lovely lady is Tiffany Shepis! COREY and Tiffany first met 12 years ago while COREY was on set filming FEVER LAKE. They recently reunited at the Chiller Theatre autograph show & the rest is history. The wedding has been set for May 9, 2009!

In other news, COREY regrets that he will not be able to attend the Virgin Megastore bash in Hollywood tomorrow night. He is currently being treated for a nasty case of bronchitis. COREY urges those of you in the Los Angeles area to still attend the show as G TOM MAC is going to rock the house!

Also, COREY wants to let everyone who ordered a painting know that he will be shipping them out to you within about 2 weeks.

Uh … forget the marriage thing. Can we please talk about these paintings?

Apparently Corey makes custom 8×10 paintings for his fans for the low, low price of $350. His website includes this personal note on his artistic endeavors:

PS: I do have one problem though. Like there’s this one fan right now that wants a painting and wants to pay $500,000.00. That’s a bit extreme, don’t U think? And to top that off, she wants me to give her painting in person. That might be possible one day, but as for now, it’s just not.

My statement to Lady-with-the-half-a-million:
I don’t want your money. U either trust, or U don’t trust. And please note that threatening not to pay me unless I give it to U in person isn’t cool. That is not how this works and your threatening tone sounds stalkerish. No thanks. Painting denied. CH

PAINTING. DENIED.

BOO-YAH, MOTHERFUCKER!