Salling, 35, was found on Tuesday near a little league field near his home
Actor reportedly hanged himself from a tree and had been dead some time
Salling's family had reported the actor missing earlier on Tuesday morning, fearing he was planning to hurt himself
Glee star was awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to child porn charges
Salling previously attempted suicide in August last year and told a judge in December that he was on medication for depression
He was due to be sentenced by a judge on March 7 and faced between four and seven years after taking a plea deal
Salling was arrested in December 2015 after authorities were tipped off
Prosecutors found 50,000 images of children as young as three on Salling's computer and a thumb drive
His
family said in a statement that their son was 'a gentle and loving
person' who was 'doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and
errors of judgment'
Glee costar
Matthew Morrison shared a photo of himself with Salling and actor Cory
Monteith with three emojis; a sad face for himself, and two angels
Fellow Glee star Jany Lynch said 'it's very said, very tragic'
Mark
Salling has died of an
apparent suicide, just weeks before he was due to be sentenced on child pornography charges.
The body of the Glee star was found by the banks fo the Los Angeles Roiver near his home in Sunland just before 9am on Tuesday.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told to DailyMail.com that
Salling was pronounced dead at the scene at 9am.
'I heard it was hanging,' said Winter, who later noted that 'the investigation is ongoing and a full autopsy is pending.'
Winter said the autopsy would take place within the next two days.
Salling
was just six weeks away from a sentencing hearing in his case, where he
faced four to seven years in prison after entering a guilty plea to a
federal charge of possessing material involving the sexual exploitation
of minors.
It was revealed in court documents that some of the images
Salling possessed featured children as young as three.
At the time of the hearing, he told the judge he was on medication for depression.
'I can confirm that Mark
Salling passed away early this morning,' his lawyer Michael Proctor said in a statement.
'Mark
was a gentle and loving person, a person of great creativity, who was
doing his best to atone for some serious mistakes and errors of
judgment. He is survived by his mother and father, and his brother. The
Salling family appreciates the support they have been receiving and asks for their privacy to be respected.'
Salling was awaiting sentencing after entering a guilty plea to possession of child pornography.
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