Dutch model may have taken cocktail of drugs

KUALA LUMPUR: A pending chemist report is the final piece of the puzzle in concluding a fresh probe on the death of a teenage Dutch model who fell to her death from a condominium unit here.
Sources revealed that pathologists who conducted the post-mortem report had sent blood and tissue samples to the Chemistry Department to ascertain if there was substance abuse by Ivana Esther Robert Smit, 19, prior to her death.
It is suspected from preliminary findings that the victim tested positive for a cocktail of at least three drugs.
In the new course of police investigations that had been initiated after Ivana's family alleged foul play in her death, sources said that it is yet to reap leads that would point to criminal elements in the tragedy.
According to Dang Wangi police chief ACP Shaharuddin Abdullah today, the case remains classified as sudden death, or free of criminal elements.
He said the investigators are waiting for the chemist's report before their findings are made public, possibly this week.
It is claimed that Ivana had joined in a swingers party the night before her death, and had followed a US national and his wife, a Kazakhstan national, to their home on the 20th floor of a condominium on Jalan Dang Wangi.
The following day, the model's nude body was found on a balcony of the 6th floor of the apartment block.
After questioning the couple, police detained the American and his wife after they tested positive for drug use. They were subsequently charged in court for that offense.
They had told police that they had only known Ivana for about two months and had met her for the second time the day before she died at their apartment.
The couple also told investigators that they had allowed her to stay with them as she was highly intoxicated, and were unaware that she had fallen from the balcony of their home.
Sources said investigators believe that it is highly likely the victim had strayed on to the balcony in a state of intoxication and drowsiness, before falling to her death.
Checks by theSun showed that the American is a chief financial officer and co-founder of a locally-registered cryptocurrency company.
The American and other officials of the company had held a grand event that was graced by a deputy minister at a luxury hotel in Petaling Jaya to promote the new cryptocurrency about six weeks ago.
The foreigner and his wife, who is said to be a lecturer at a local higher education institution, are currently being held at the Sungei Buloh prison and Kajang prison, respectively, after authorities found discrepancies in their travel documents.
Ivana's body remains unclaimed at the Kuala Lumpur Hospital mortuary, after her family who had arrived here a week ago made an early return for the Netherlands on Saturday.
It was reported that they are expected to make a statement on the case upon arrival.