In this 2005 photo provided by Peter Michaelis, Mary Richardson Kennedy poses for a photo outside her Bedford, N.Y. home. Kennedy, the estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who had fought drug and alcohol problems, was found dead in her home Wednesday, May 16, 2012. She was 52. (AP Photo/Peter T. Michaelis)

JIM FITZGERALD, Associated Press

BEDFORD, N.Y. - A medical examiner in suburban New York says the estranged wife of Robert Kennedy Jr. died of asphyxiation due to hanging.

Mary Richardson Kennedy was discovered dead Wednesday on the family's property in Bedford.

She was 52, and had struggled with drug and alcohol charges in recent years.

An autopsy was performed Thursday morning.