Daughter of Singer Shirley Bassey Found Dead

BRISTOL, England (AP) _ The 22-year-old daughter of British singing star Shirley Bassey has been found dead in the Avon River beneath a bridge in this western city, an inquest was told Monday.

Coroner Donald Hawkins said Samantha Novak died from shock. Her fully- clothed body was found Saturday near the Clifton suspension bridge, which rises 200 feet above the river.

The inquest was told that the body had probably been in the water for about a week. The coroner said it appeared there were no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.

The inquest was told that Miss Novak, who was living in Bristol, sometimes drank to excess. Her 29-year-old sister, Sharon, said in a statement to the inquest that Samantha had undergone treatment by an educational psychologist shortly before her death. But, she added, her sister seemed happy when they spoke on the telephone recently.

Miss Bassey, who was in the middle of a 30-country world tour, was informed of her daughter’s death shortly after the body was discovered by tourists.

The 47-year-old singer lives in Switzerland.

Miss Bassey’s sister, Iris Denning, said at her home in Cardiff, Wales, that her niece ″was a normal happy girl with everything to live for, we can’t believe it.″

Miss Novak was born during Miss Bassey’s first marriage to film director Kenneth Hume - which ended in 1964 - but she always used the surname of her mother’s second husband and manager, Sergio Novak.