The body of Katoucha Niane, one of the first African women to become an internationally-acclaimed model, was found in the Seine River, Parisian police have said.
Known simply as Katoucha, the former top model for Yves Saint Laurent and other renowned designers was found on Thursday near the Garigliano bridge in Paris.
According to police an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that the 47-year-old may have fallen into the river accidentally.
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 was later found on board the boat.
The Guinean-born model told The Associated Press in 1994 that she ran away to Europe at 17 aiming to be a model. Her big break came when a designer at Lanvin spotted her in a line-up.
After quitting the catwalk, she turned to speaking out actively against female circumcision, describing her own experience at age 9-years-old in a book, 'Katoucha, In My Flesh', which was published last year.
"I will never get the incomparable pain out of my head": she wrote in the book, which she dedicated to her three children.
Vanity Fair's fashion and style director, Michael Roberts, said Katoucha was: "One those girls who used her fame to spotlight the misfortunes of others."
In the months before her death, Katoucha took on her first film role, playing a beautiful and rebellious woman, said Leandre-Alain Baker, director of 'Ramata'.
Filming is complete but a release date has not yet been set.
