At 2:30 pm on June 28th, 20 year old Kazakh model, Ruslana Korshunova, fell from the balcony of her Manhattan 9th floor apartment to her death. Police ruled that her death was an apparent suicide after finding no signs of a struggle in her apartment. Case closed.But the media is refusing to be satisfied, and with good reason — there was no note, and, according to her friends, she seemed to be “on top of the world”.

Hmmmm…. no note, in good spirits… maybe she was “done in”– oh oh oh! By the Russian Mob! Of course! Everyone knows that whenever a beautiful Russian (or former Soviet) bites the dust, the Russian Mob are the culprits. I mean look at “From Russia with Love”, “Eastern Promises”, and of course xXx. Sigh… if only Sean Connery, Vigo Mortenson, or Vin Diesel were on the investigation team.

Luckily the bloggers of Riveronmirror, stepped up to the plate.

Riveronmirror states that the Russian mob has been placing Eastern European and Slavic women in spotlight positions in the fashion industry to fuel a global desire for women bearing these types of features. This global desire, in turn, increases the demand for Slavic models, wives, and escorts—all of who are, apparently, controlled by the mob.
Riveronmirror argues that,

“There is a strong flood of speculation relating to the possibility that Ruslana Kurshanova wanted to end [her] contract (with whomever she REALLY was working for) and this (teenage-model flesh-peddling) organization used her as an exemplary point.

The deepest undertone of this case has to do with the explotaition of images in order to produce an effect that is channeled to the benefit of a few enthroed media wizards.”

The bloggers then defend themselves from mounting criticism noting that they aren’t saying that Korshunova was engaged in prostitution, nor are they even saying that her death wasn’t a suicide.

But… (there’s always a but right?)

“We have noticed there are more strange cases of Eastern European models dying under mysterious situations and will publish soon more evidence as our contact in Moscow, Vasily, sends us his report. Meanwhile we will be investigating in New York.”

I would like to put forth my own conspiracy theory: Since they went public with this theory, RiveronMirror’s blog has attracted the attention of international media outlets—from the LA Times to the UK Telegraph. Bloggers make money from site traffic. Hmmmmmmm…. could it be that the good people of RiveronMirror saw an opportunity to catapult their site beyond the gossip mill?

It certainly is interesting that they suddenly have a source in Moscow…
I guess we’ll just have to see how this pans out. Either way, this story is still a sad, sad mystery.

[Update: According to the New York Daily News, Korshunova was in financial trouble and depressed over being in love with a married man at the time of her death. The Daily News interviewed her life coach, Vladislav Novgorodtsev, who revealed that she had attempted suicide in the past and had been incredibly unhappy. Riveronmirror, however, maintains, that reports such as this are “exactly what the Russsian Mafia wants to hear.”]