Summer Of Death Continues!!!!

The facts are scant but this much was being reported over the weekend.

"A European Vogue cover model fell to her death from her Manhattan apartment building Saturday in what has been ruled a suicide.

Ruslana Korshunova, 20, died around 2:30 p.m. in a fall from a building on Water Street, in Manhattan's Financial District...."

Look, I don't bring this up just to add another body to the Summer Of Death but to point out something I find fascinating about human nature. We the people hate the unknown.

We read the quotes in the paper from those who knew her; the doorman at her building who said she was a "sweet girl" and the ex-boyfriend who added "she was a good person."

But because we don't understand or don't accept death by suicide when the victim is so young and so pretty we start to speculate.

Here are a few of the reader comments left on the story on the Huffington Post yesterday.

Anastacia writes, "Jumping seems like such a painful, way to die full of desperation. It doesn't track because, being a model, she probably knew people who had access to drugs. She could have easily gone that route if she wanted to commit suicide, which in it self seems implausible. She had everything to live for and her family back home needed her."

Here's Alex, "I have a friend who comes from Russia and supports her mum and brother working as model in New York. and she told me many stories where some of those girls had spirit attacks. She told me they shared apartments and rooms and many girls and some girls would sleep walk and get ghosts or spirit attacks where they strangled fellow models in sleep or got hysteria or did really weird things in sleep. She told me these incidences are common in Milan and New York because of the pressure and competitions and always having to smile day out to get a job and be a bitch in private. My friend told me of one time she slept in a room with four girls and woke up being strangled by a sleep walking fellow model."

Ailbje says, "People don't just throw themselves out of windows without prior suspicious behaviour. People do not kill themselves without good reason; unemployment, bullying, substance abuse etc..  It does seem that there was either something very bad going on or she was murdered. I agree with posters suggesting mafia involvement. They are everywhere and they target Eastern Europeans for extortion, often threatening not only them but their family back home if they do not give them what they want. It would not be difficult for someone to sneak in and out of a building."

Now Darcy, "Very suspicious to me 20 years old so much to live for and also the time of day is unusual for suicide... They don't even know if someone else was there so why call it a suicide..could have been an accident or maybe a murder with some big roller involved and being covered up..you've gotta know NY City Police you can never tell with them..."

Kalima, "Then again, the most often thing that happens is, lonely, goes to a party, someone introduces her to drugs. Not even thinking about suicide but feels as she can fly, have you heard this for the very first time?  This is how the bosses of agencies all over the world keep their 'girls' in line."

Madrid, "Not likely a suicide-- more likely related to the Russian mafia that increasingly runs the lives of new immigrants from former Soviet states to NY."

And so it goes on. And I'm not even saying it's a bad thing that we tend to fill in the missing facts with those from our own imagination. Assumption, theory, speculation - they are stops along the path to critical thinking but let's not be to quick to believe our own make believe version of events. 

Comments

[Edmund F]

You'd think with all the modern day research and stories about Clinical Depression or Bi-Polar Disorder that, at least some people, would realize that there doesn't always need to be a "good" reason for Suicide.

We, as a society or at least in the media, are always looking for an epic reason for suicide, especially with beautiful, famous people. It might be something as simple as, "I haven't taken my meds for a month."

Sometimes we can't except people that are "better" than us might struggle with suicide.

Read the poem "Richard Cory" or listen to the song of the same name.

I'm done.

[Nicole]

It is a tragedy that a person so young would want to end their life. Having said that: looking at her photos -what is up with lingerie models looking like 13 year olds?? Sometimes I wonder about our society and its values.

[Melvin]

Alex's theory sounds hot! Sleepwalking hotties strangling each other while in skimpy sleeping attire or not... I'm just sayin'!

[Patrcia]

It is very sad and hard to understand that anyone would want to take their own life. However, more people die from suicide than murder in the U.S. Also, suicide is usually an impulsive act. When treating people after failed suicide attempts, most will say that they made up their minds to kill themselves just minutes before they attempted it. This is part of the reson why suicide is so hard to predict or prevent.

[Suzy]

to Melvin: you're a moron.

secondly, I agree with Edmund and Patricia. someone can be super rich and beautiful and famous but still feel empty. and suicides are a-plenty yet we mostly hear about those of the rich and famous so we must begin to speculate about the rhyme and reason. it has happened to any person at any economic level or stage in their life, there's no equation to it so let it lie.

[Cindy]

She was pushed. Probably by Igor or Sven.

[The Secret]

Who cares if she was an uber-model? That does not make her suicide any more or less sad or important than the down-and-out vagrant who throws himself in front of a bus.

Sad? Possibly.

Should we care? Not a bit.

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