CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Andre Barnard, son of heart transplant pioneer Dr. Christiaan Barnard, was found dead in a bathtub filled with water at his suburban home, police said.
Police said a syringe was found on the floor beside him and the possibility of suicide is being investigated.
Barnard, 32, a medical doctor, was discovered Wednesday by his wife, Gail, a nurse at Groote Schuur Hospital where Christiaan Barnard performed the world's first heart transplant in 1967.
Police spokesman Capt. Jan Calitz said Barnard's two young children were asleep when his wife returned home from work and discovered the body.
Calitz said the results of an autopsy would be made known in about two to three weeks.
Family members who asked to remain unidentified said Barnard had been undergoing psychiatric treatment for depression for about a year.
Christiaan Barnard was on holiday in the Far East when told of his son's death and was expected back in South Africa Friday, the sources said.
