The 21-year-old plus-size model who stabbed herself to death in her Manhattan apartment was tormented by doubts about her looks and upset by what she saw as the shallowness of the people around her, her diaries reveal.
“Growing up, she was a little overweight in high school and had problems with the way she looked,” said Alec Duncan, the brother of Wilhelmina model Natasha Duncan, who transformed from an awkward teen to a beautiful cover girl.
“And now that she lost all the weight and became a model, she had a problem with people looking at her as a piece of meat,” Alec said.
He said his sister wrote in her diaries about feeling that men she met were trying to “use” her and were drawn to her just for her looks.
“She felt like a lot of people in the industry and New York in general were fake,” Alec said after reading the diaries.
“She was very intelligent and she read a lot, and I feel she wasn’t from this world and she didn’t want to be here anymore. She’s in a happier place now.”
Alec said he talked with Wilhelmina head Dieter Esch about his sister.
“The president of Wilhelmina said that usually, when women get into modeling, they see themselves in magazines and finally realize how beautiful they are and they get comfortable with their bodies. Just the opposite happened with Natasha,” Alec said.
“She became more self-conscious . . . She was very critical of herself.”
Duncan’s brother said cops have dispelled his doubts that his sister’s death was a suicide. They told him there were no signs anyone had attacked her or that there had been a fight.
A memorial service will be held 6 p.m. Friday at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on Madison Avenue.