Original subtitles

PERSON [echoing]: Oh, my God!

NARRATOR: On June 28, 2008,

Ruslana Korshunova was alone in her apartment in Manhattan.

- It was an incredibly hot day in New York.

- Outside of her apartment was construction,

so they had a nylon net blocking her balcony.

PETER POMERANTSEV: Ruslana climbed through.

A laborer doing some repairs on the streets

hears a thud.

NARRATOR: Ruslana jumped to her death

from the ninth floor of her apartment building.

REPORTER: A model who was featured on the cover of European Vogue

fell to a very public death on a Manhattan street.

Published reports say her death was a suicide.

Police say the case is still under investigation.

[police radio droning]

POMERANTSEV: People come and gather.

The doorman comes out.

He immediately recognizes that it's Ruslana.

Ambulance comes, police come.

She'd landed really quite far away from the building

that she'd jumped from; around 26 feet.

That's-that's quite a distance, if you think about it.

So it was like a-a run and a leap.

Her apartment was locked from the inside,

so there were no signs of it being forced open.

They concluded there were no signs of foul play.

NARRATOR: Police ruled Ruslana's death to be a suicide.

REPORTER: Family and friends gathered

at a funeral service for Ruslana

in Moscow on Monday,

trying to come to terms with their loss.

For them, her death remains a mystery.

- [translated] The last time I talked to her,

she was anxious and worried.

Then she just hung up.

A couple of hours later, I received a phone call

with the news that Ruslana was no more.

COURTNEY SHEA: There were a lot of questions

about what would have motivated

this young girl with so much promise to kill herself.

And, of course, there are people in her life who-who

don't actually believe that she did kill herself.

REPORTER: To many, it seemed Ruslana Korshunova

had a lot left to live for.

While friends say they saw no signs

she would take her own life,

there were some clues elsewhere.

NARRATOR: To her friends and family, it didn't make any sense.

How could this happen?

But then, it happened again.

SHEA: There was the death of her friend Anastasia, who joined

Rose of the World at the same time

as Ruslana.

- Anastasia jumped off a high-rise

in what looks like a suicide.

After the double suicide was revealed,

the Rose of the World defended themselves

by saying, "These two models, with their terrible lifestyles,

"caused this harm to themselves,

"and we're the ones who are getting blamed.

All our clients have run off."

One of her friends had blamed the Rose of the World directly.

He said, "It's all 'cause of them."

I talked to a lot of psychologists in Moscow.

They said that there's a big body of evidence

showing that these

life-training courses, they cause psychological damage.

She was definitely manipulated by everyone she met.

NARRATOR: Roza Mira changed its name

and kept operating as a self-help group,

and the modeling industry moved on

to the next fresh face.

But for Ruslana, there is no next chapter.

In her attempt to build a life for herself,

she was lost.

ANYELIKA PEREZ: The industry has a lot of dark corners,

and depending how long you spend in,

and how strong your support system is,

you either

get out a healthy person,

or it will take a toll on you.

- ♪ Look at me... ♪

POMERANTSEV: I think we can learn a lot

from all the experiences Ruslana went through.

Because it teaches us a lot about a very cruel industry.

I really hope that one of Ruslana's legacies

is a real call to

urgently change this industry.

- ♪ Look at me... ♪

POMERANTSEV: I think that's something we can demand.

NARRATOR: When she first moved to New York,

Ruslana wrote in her blog,

"Instead of moaning at the thorns,

I'm happy that a rose among them grows."