Thai police have revealed that the tourist who fell 80ft from a Phuket apartment was a Russian adult model, and that she may have been pushed to her death.
Webcam performer Evgenia Smirnova died after falling from an eighth-floor balcony in a Patong residential complex, suffering fatal head injuries and breaking her leg.
The incident reportedly occurred during a drinking and sex party. Agents discovered that the woman had live-streamed regularly from various social networks under different names on an adult site shortly before her death.
Local authorities have launched an investigation to clarify whether her death was accidental, as she was found with a human hair clump in her hand. Forensic investigators are running DNA tests to identify who Smirnova may have grabbed.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Chomphunuch Anantayakun said police believed the woman might have accidentally fallen from the eight-floor balcony when looking out at the view. However, officers also think she could have been pushed on purpose, which may have resulted from an argument.
The 37-year-old Russian citizen was originally from Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, but moved to the Russian capital Moscow when she was a child. She left for Thailand, a country she had previously visited, on May 25th.
Her body was found Tuesday morning at the Emerald Terrace condominium complex, seen above, which is in Patong, the well-known nightlife area of Phuket.
After the incident, local police arrested another Russian woman, identified as Natalia Kosenkova, 35, and two men on drug use suspicion. Police reports cited evidence of a “sex, drug and alcohol party” at the complex where Smirnova died.
Kosenkova, a model and DJ, later said she had been released and described Smirnova’s death as an “unfortunate incident.”
“The only thing I can say is that this was an unfortunate incident, but it was not a murder, and none of the people involved are to blame. We were held in a cage, but they let us go,” the woman added.
She claimed that she had met Smirnova the night of the incident and denied reports that the party involved drugs and sex but did not elaborate, saying her attorney had instructed her not to discuss the case in depth.
The two men were identified as Jamaal Antwaun Smith, a 38-year-old American, and Ahmad Radi Mustafa Alatoom, a 28-year-old Jordanian. Police officers detained Alatoom as he tried to board a plane out of Thailand soon after the incident.
