Following an alert given by a passer-by who had noticed a floating body in the seine in the vicinity of the Pont (brigde) Garigliano, Thursday, the police department, which opened an inquiry after her disappearance a month ago, confirmed that the corpse was clothed in the same dress she was described wearing the last time she was seen, but failed to confirm it was Katoucha’s corpse.

According to an autopsy report released by the police today, Friday, Katoucha drowned as soon as she fell into the seine and the body showed no trace of violence.

Her mysterious disappearence almost a month ago raised lots of suspicions.

Earlier, her handbag had been found close to her boat prompting some to conclude that she had fallen over her boathouse and into the seine after reports indicated that she had been out drinking the night she disappeared. This led the police to say that all hypothesis “of accidental or suicidal nature” were being examined.

The ex-super model from Guinea, Katoucha Niane, a mother of three, also known as “La Princesse Peul” when she graced the catwalks, was Yves Saint Laurent’s muse. The daughter of the author and historian Djibril Tamsir Niane was born in 1960.

Katoucha was very instrumental in the fight against female circumcision, having been herself a victim to the age old practice when she was nine years old. Her fight against this brutal practice gave her the impetus to start her own organisation (KLPCE, i.e, Katoucha for the fight againt female circumcision) to create awareness. In September 2007 she published a book titled “Dans ma chair” (in my skin) in which talks about her childhood and the brutal practice. She was 48.