Sean Hoare, the former News of the World reporter who was the first to come forward by name and accuse former NOTW editor and David Cameron adviser Andy Coulson of ordering widespread phone hacking, was found dead this morning.

Hoare told the New York Times Magazine last year that Coulson knew everything—that story helped jumpstart interest in the phone hacking allegations and led to the current maelstrom. More recently, he told the Times that NOTW reporters paid Metropolitan Police Service officers $500 a pop to access cell phone geo-location data for—or "ping"—celebrities' phones. Now he's dead.

The Guardian says his death is being treated by the MPS as "unexplained" but not suspicious.

[Photo of News Corp. offices via Getty, screenshot of Hoare via BBC]