In this Nov. 20, 2004 photo, Charlotte Dawson models Trelise Cooper’s fashion on the catwalk during the Air New Zealand Fashion Week in Auckland, New Zealand. Australian TV star and former model Dawson was found dead at age 47 in her Sydney apartment on Saturday morning, Feb. 22, 2014, following a history of depression. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances. AP
SYDNEY — Australian TV star and former model Charlotte Dawson, who became an anti-bullying activist after she was targeted online, has been found dead at age 47.
Famed for TV shows such as “Australia’s Next Top Model,” the New Zealand-born star had a history of depression. She was found dead in her Sydney apartment on Saturday morning. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances.
In 2012, she was admitted to a Sydney hospital after a suicide attempt following an ongoing tirade of abuse on Twitter.
She revealed in her 2005 autobiography “Air Kiss & Tell” that she was frequently visited by the “depression bogeyman.”
Dawson, 47, had long graced the pages of women’s gossip magazines and scenes in reality TV shows. Her modeling career had taken her to Italy, Britain and Germany during the 1980s.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key tweeted he was “shocked and saddened” by the news of her death.
The Sun-Herald newspaper in Sydney reported on Sunday that her body was found only minutes before her luxury waterside apartment was due to be sold at auction.
The tragedy was discovered the day after the birthday of her former husband, Scott Miller, an Australian Olympic silver medal-winning swimmer who became addicted to the drug ice and accrued multiple convictions for illegal drug and firearm possession.
Dawson professed her enduring love for Miller and sadness at his fall from grace ahead of Australian “60 Minutes” broadcasting an exclusive interview with him on Feb. 16.
Kate Carnell, chief executive of Beyond Blue, a not-for-profit organization promoting depression awareness, criticized Twitter for failing to sign up to an Australian government complaint-handling program designed to remove hateful material from social media sites.
Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft signed up to the project last year.
“There’s lots more work that people like Twitter need to do,” Carnell told The Sun-Herald.