The body of Katoucha Niane, one of the first African women to attain international stardom as a model and a vocal opponent of female genital mutilation, was found in the Seine River, police said Friday.
Known simply as Katoucha, the former top model for Yves Saint Laurent and other top designers was found Thursday near the Garigliano bridge in Paris, judicial police in Paris said.
A preliminary postmortem examination found she had died of drowning and there was no sign of violence. Further test results should be known in the next few days, but investigators are thought to believe that her death was an accident.
She had been missing since January and was last seen returning home from a party. She lived in a houseboat near Paris' Alexandre III bridge, and her handbag, containing papers and her mobile phone was later found on the boat.
At lunchtime on Thursday, two and a half miles down river, police recovered a body from the water, still clothed in a sequin dress and black boots, after it had been spotted by a passerby. She could not swim and had reportedly survived a similar accident some time ago.
Katoucha leaves behind two children in their 20s and a nine-year-old.
