NEW YORK — The Russian Vogue cover girl who plummeted from her ninth-floor Manhattan apartment on Saturday in a suicide plunge felt confused about the direction of her life and struggled with a stomach ailment in the days before her death, friends told the New York Post.
Ruslana Korshunova, a 20-year-old native of Kazakhstan, had lost a lot of weight in the last month and had trouble balancing her personal life and her demanding work schedule, her ex-boyfriend told the paper.
"I think she just gave up," said Artem Perchenok, 24, who was with Korshunova on the last night of her life.
Authorities officially declared Korshunova's death a suicide on Sunday
The 5-foot-8 stunner, who liked camping and fishing, kept her problems "bottled up," Perchenok told the Post.
"When a job would go bad, she'd take it out on herself," he said.
But her latest boyfriend, 32-year-old New Yorker Mark Kaminsky — who said he talked with Ruslana hours before her death — insisted the beauty was "liking what she did."
"She was a love for me," he told the Post, noting the first time he saw her he gushed: "I'm in shock over your beauty."
Korshunova, known for her flowing, Rapunzel-like tresses, was featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Vera Wang, and also made the cover of French Elle.
Before her death, Korshunova had a full schedule of high-profile modeling jobs in New York and had recently returned from Paris.
The model, a size 4, appeared to have dropped a lot of weight from her already thin frame and was complaining about a stomachache in the four or five days before her death.
And she told her manager "she didn't know what to do with her life," her ex told the Post.
In Kazakhstan, her mother said the suicide was "completely unexpected."
"She's had her ups and downs but never anything that would lead to suicide," she told the Post.
Korshunova was four days from her 21st birthday.
"When she had a conversation with my son, she said, 'I'm 21, so I feel sad.' She asked, 'Where am I going to celebrate?'" Nina Perchenok, Artem's mother, told the Post.
"She was lonely, it looked like," Perchenok said.
But her death — after spending the night watching the movie "Ghost" with her ex — was completely unexpected.
"I never heard of her being depressed. Maybe a year ago, when she wanted to change agencies," the mother told the Post. "But she would explain her problems. I can't understand why she wouldn't explain her problems [now]."
Korshunova left no note before she jumped.
One investigator told the Post they found several bottles of medication; the labels were in Russian.
British Vogue hailed Korshunova as "a face to be excited about" in 2005.
Ruslana Korshunova, a 20-year-old native of Kazakhstan, had lost a lot of weight in the last month and had trouble balancing her personal life and her demanding work schedule, her ex-boyfriend told the paper.
"I think she just gave up," said Artem Perchenok, 24, who was with Korshunova on the last night of her life.
Authorities officially declared Korshunova's death a suicide on Sunday
The 5-foot-8 stunner, who liked camping and fishing, kept her problems "bottled up," Perchenok told the Post.
"When a job would go bad, she'd take it out on herself," he said.
But her latest boyfriend, 32-year-old New Yorker Mark Kaminsky — who said he talked with Ruslana hours before her death — insisted the beauty was "liking what she did."
"She was a love for me," he told the Post, noting the first time he saw her he gushed: "I'm in shock over your beauty."
Korshunova, known for her flowing, Rapunzel-like tresses, was featured in ads for Marc Jacobs, DKNY and Vera Wang, and also made the cover of French Elle.
Before her death, Korshunova had a full schedule of high-profile modeling jobs in New York and had recently returned from Paris.
The model, a size 4, appeared to have dropped a lot of weight from her already thin frame and was complaining about a stomachache in the four or five days before her death.
And she told her manager "she didn't know what to do with her life," her ex told the Post.
In Kazakhstan, her mother said the suicide was "completely unexpected."
"She's had her ups and downs but never anything that would lead to suicide," she told the Post.
Korshunova was four days from her 21st birthday.
"When she had a conversation with my son, she said, 'I'm 21, so I feel sad.' She asked, 'Where am I going to celebrate?'" Nina Perchenok, Artem's mother, told the Post.
"She was lonely, it looked like," Perchenok said.
But her death — after spending the night watching the movie "Ghost" with her ex — was completely unexpected.
"I never heard of her being depressed. Maybe a year ago, when she wanted to change agencies," the mother told the Post. "But she would explain her problems. I can't understand why she wouldn't explain her problems [now]."
Korshunova left no note before she jumped.
One investigator told the Post they found several bottles of medication; the labels were in Russian.
British Vogue hailed Korshunova as "a face to be excited about" in 2005.
