Ivana Smit

Ivana Esther Robert Smit was a Dutch model whose short modeling career and sudden death in Malaysia made her name known across Europe and Southeast Asia. <cite index="5-6,20-7">She was born in Sittard, Limburg, and was of Dutch and Indonesian-Chinese parentage.</cite> <cite index="23-11">As a young child her parents sent her from Holland to live with her grandparents, Hendrik and Susan Smit, in Penang, Malaysia.</cite> <cite index="19-14">She began her modeling career at the age of 13</cite>, and <cite index="19-6,19-7">worked as a runway and print model for a number of high end labels and in fashion shows,</cite> with <cite index="10-15">a modeling career that included work for brands such as Chanel.</cite>

<cite index="5-6,2-9">Smit's body was found at CapSquare Residences in Kuala Lumpur on 7 December 2017, after she fell from the 20th floor of a condominium unit owned by an American couple.</cite> <cite index="11-5,11-6">She fell 14 floors from the unit belonging to Alex Johnson and his wife, whom she had befriended, and was found sprawled on a sixth floor balcony later that day.</cite> <cite index="11-11">Police originally classified the case as a sudden death, but it was reopened after pressure from her family, who said there were elements of foul play and a cover up.</cite> <cite index="11-3,4-8">The Coroner's Court ruled in March 2019 that she had died of misadventure, meaning an accidental fall.</cite>

Her family never accepted that finding. <cite index="10-1,10-5">A Dutch pathologist, Frank van de Goot, found significant head bruising and multiple bruises on her arms, and a second autopsy found cocaine in her system.</cite> <cite index="13-4">Investigators also noted grip marks on her arm, trauma to the back of her head, broken bottles at the scene and the American man's DNA under her fingernails, which suggested the possibility of a struggle.</cite> The dispute over her death and over the quality of the police investigation turned into one of the longest running legal cases involving a Dutch citizen in Malaysia. <cite index="3-2,3-6">In 2025 her relatives won a civil lawsuit against the Malaysian government after a court ruled that the investigation had been seriously flawed and negligent, awarding compensation of over 224,000 euros.</cite>

That finding did not stand. <cite index="5-2,5-3">On 14 October 2026 Malaysia's Court of Appeal overturned the High Court decision ordering the government to pay damages to her mother, with a three judge panel unanimously allowing the government's appeal.</cite> <cite index="6-1">The appeals court set aside the earlier ruling that had awarded 1.1 million ringgit in damages to her family over alleged negligence in the investigation.</cite> <cite index="5-4">The panel found that the High Court had erred in treating negligence and misconduct as independent grounds for liability without establishing the legal requirements for holding public authorities responsible.</cite>

Ivana Smit's death drew heavy coverage in the Netherlands and in Malaysia and remains the subject of continuing news coverage, documentaries and online discussion nearly a decade later, driven largely by her family's long campaign and the unresolved questions about what happened in the final hours of her life. <cite index="20-1,20-3">Her grandfather, who had supported her modeling career since she was 13, said she had always been positive minded and had been due to leave for a Top Model contest in Europe.</cite> The case has not been legally resolved as a murder or a confirmed accident, and the Malaysian courts have so far ruled only on questions of police conduct and liability rather than on the ultimate cause of her death.