Model Annalise Braakensiek found dead in Potts Point apartment
High-profile Australian model Annalise Braakensiek has been found dead in her Sydney apartment.
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Australian model Annalise Braakensiek was found dead in her Sydney apartment on Sunday afternoon.
Police and ambulance crews attended her Potts Point apartment around 3.30pm after friends and family became concerned about her whereabouts.
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Close friends have told news.com.au the jewellery creator, lingerie designer and health guru hadn’t been heard from for a few days.
Police rescue and ambulance attended the apartment where they found Ms Braakensiek, 45, deceased.
There were no suspicious circumstances, police said, and they will prepare a report for the coroner.
The Australian model split from her stockbroker husband Danny Goldberg in April after 16 years together. At the time, in a deleted Instagram post, she wrote: “I don’t know if a broken heart mends or learns to live in pieces”.
She had bought the Potts Point apartment in November last year following the separation. When she bought the Victoria Rd property, she talked about plans to decorate in her signature style.
At the time she told the Sun-Herald she was focusing on her work and her pet cat Frankie and “moving forward with her life”.
In December, she wrote on Instagram of the “challenging year” and talked of her biggest challenge of “not having my own home”.
The high-profile model had fought a public battle with depression for years and was an ambassador for RUOK? Day in 2017.
At the time, she said in an interview with The Daily Edition: “It was the … negative reaction people had to me being depressed and falling under the dark cloud.”
She went on: “In many ways my life is wonderful, for which I’m extremely grateful and there’s no doubting that, but when you’re suffering these kinds of things for people to say how dare you — you’re a model, you’re a millionaire, you’re round the world.
“That’s got nothing to do with this.”
Ms Braakensiek was a fixture of the Bondi community and was a strong proponent of healthy living - so much so that she was still very much in demand as a swimsuit model after nearly 30 years in the business.
A close friend of Ms Braakensiek, Adriana Dib, who spoke to her in the days before her death said she had seemed “upbeat”.
“I spoke to Annalise on Wednesday night and I thought she sounded okay,” Ms Dib told news.com.au.
“I wasn’t worried at all. We discussed the new year and all the wonderful things we would get to conquer and achieve.
“To find out today that she’s gone is so devastating, I feel out of body.
“She brought so much magical love to everyone she knew.
“My life was better for having had her in it. We were kindred. I felt very lucky. The world has lost a genuine beacon of beautiful light.”
Friends began to worry, however, when Ms Braakensiek - who Ms Dib said was never one not to return a text, message or phone call - did not respond to messages and calls from Thursday onwards.
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact BeyondBlue on 1300 224 636 or Lifeline on 13 11 14
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