The 47-year-old former model's death was grieved by actor Russell Crowe, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and her other celebrity friends.
- Feb 23, 2014
AceShowbiz - Former "Australia's Next Top Model" judge Charlotte Dawson was found dead at the age of 47 of apparent suicide. The Australian TV star and former model had battled depression for years after getting personal attacks on social media.
According to the Sun-Herald newspaper in Sydney, Dawson's body was found on Saturday, February 22 morning, only minutes before her luxury waterside apartment in Woolloomooloo was due to be sold at auction. An agent from real-estate company Morton and Morton, which was selling the property, reportedly found the body after going inside the two-bedroom apartment for final inspection.
Police said there were no suspicious circumstances, leading speculation that she took her own life. "Police will prepare a report for the coroner following the discovery of a body at Woolloomooloo. About 11am today police from Kings Cross local area command were called to Cowper Wharf Rd after the body of a woman was located in a unit. There are no suspicious circumstances and investigations are continuing," Kings Cross police said in a statement to Mail Online.
Friends were already suspicious that something was up when the usually active tweeter did not post anything for 19 hours. Her last tweet read, "We have the hospitals/resources & the doctors & professors willing to help. Where is the govt support?" She spent her last day filming a morning show on Nine and having brunch with photographer James Jamie.
''She touched a lot of people. She took me under her wing and was my first big client. She was a friend and mentor as well. She had an acerbic wit and such a media savvy mind - her brain ate media for breakfast," her longterm-manager Mark Byrne said.
"We miss her terribly and that's all we want to say at the moment," Dawson's sister Vicky told New Zealand Herald, adding, "There was no indication that this would happen. None whatsoever. ...She had her demons, and other people didn't like her because of the things that she said, but she was always very forthright. She would always fight in somebody else's corner."
Dawson was once admitted to a hospital in Sydney for a suicide attempt following a series of Twitter abuse. Her depression reportedly was also triggered by her interview on February 16 with "60 Minutes" in which she confessed of still loving former husband Scott Miller and how she struggled with his addiction to drug ice and multiple legal problems.
Sending condolences for Dawson are New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Dawson's childhood friend Russell Crowe. "Shocked and saddened to hear of Charlotte Dawson's death," Key tweeted. Crowe tweeted, "Charley D...Just don't understand. There's not enough kind souls as it is. Rest in peace."
