But the cause of his bizarre death is not likely to be laid to rest as quickly.

Carradine's relatives, dissatisfied with Thai investigators and ''profoundly disturbed'' by the publication of a forensics photo in a Bangkok tabloid, are seeking help from the FBI and an independent pathologist and have threatened legal action against any media outlet that reprints images of the actor in death.

Four days after a chambermaid found his body hanging inside the wardrobe in his luxury rooms at a Bangkok hotel, there are exotic theories being concocted about what happened in Suite 352.

The initial reaction that the 72-year-old Hollywood star must have committed suicide has been subsumed by claims that he was the victim of his own sexual practices, or even that he was murdered.

His family are sufficiently concerned about reports emanating from Bangkok to ask the FBI to investigate, and Thai coroners have sent samples from the actor's body for toxicology tests. The results, they say, may not be known for three weeks.

The reason so few are prepared to accept that suicide ended a lengthy career that included the worldwide TV smash Kung Fu, and, latterly, a starring role in Quentin Tarantino's film Kill Bill, is not so much to do with a lack of any note as with the position of the rope that killed him. Carradine's rope not only encircled his neck, but his wrist and penis as well. This is strongly suggestive of auto-eroticism, a procedure sufficiently dangerous to kill several hundred men in the United States each year.

Representatives for Carradine declined to comment on the speculation but long-time family friend and former lawyer Vicki Roberts insisted Carradine had no history of practising the technique.

The actor's half-brother, Keith Carradine, had filed reports with the FBI that could lead to the agency's involvement, his lawyer Mark Geragos said.. The FBI confirmed Carradine's family had contacted the agency.

A chambermaid found Carradine's body on Thursday at Bangkok's Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel. Thai authorities said they have all but ruled out foul play, based on surveillance footage and interviews with hotel staff that indicate no one was in Carradine's room before he died.

A grainy photo published on the Saturday cover of the tabloid Thai Rath shows a naked body suspended from a clothes bar in a hotel wardrobe. The paper did not indicate the source, but Thai police believe it was taken by a forensics team. AP /Independent