NEW YORK, NY – A high-profile model, Ruslana Korshunova, who tragically ended her life by jumping from her Wall Street apartment, is now revealed to have been one of the young women transported to Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, according to recently declassified court documents.
Korshunova, who was only 18 at the time, was a passenger on Epstein’s notorious Lolita Express on June 7, 2006. This trip occurred almost exactly two years before the Kazakh-Russian model, who was signed with IMG, took her own life by leaping from her ninth-floor balcony.
The model’s former boyfriend commented at the time that Korshunova had personal issues that she kept to herself. Her visit to Epstein’s island took place just weeks before Epstein was arrested in 2006 and later convicted for sexual involvement with underage girls.
Epstein, along with three of his staff members, was listed as being on the flight with her. The staff included bodyguard Igor Zinoviev, personal chef Lance Calloway, and longtime assistant Sarah Kellen. Another woman named Stephanie Tidwell and an unidentified former UFC fighter were also on the flight.
It remains unclear what transpired when Korshunova arrived on Epstein’s island, a place notorious for the sexual exploitation of underage girls. Several years after her untimely death, an attorney for Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre inquired if she recognized Korshunova from an attached Newsweek article on the model’s death. Giuffre, however, responded that she had never met Korshunova.
Korshunova died at the young age of 20, after cutting a hole in construction mesh surrounding her ninth-floor balcony and jumping. She had left lengthy messages expressing her longing for home and family and discussing issues in her romantic life. Her former boyfriend revealed that she had lost a significant amount of weight in the month leading up to her death and struggled to balance her personal life with her demanding career.
The model, known as “The Russian Rapunzel” for her long, flowing hair, was discovered in 2003 and quickly hailed as the next big thing in the fashion world. She worked with elite modeling agency IMG at the time of her death. It remains unclear how or when she met Epstein, but her trip on his private jet coincided with the height of her career.