(NewsNation) — New York’s medical examiner has ruled Ivana Trump’s death an accident. She died of “blunt impact injuries” to her torso, according to an official release from the medical examiner’s office.
Trump, 73, was found dead near stairs in her New York apartment Thursday. Investigators have not clarified if she fell down the steps or if they played a role in her death.
The New York Fire Department said it responded to a report of a cardiac arrest shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday and found Ivana Trump dead on arrival.
A former model, Ivana Trump was the first wife of former President Donald Trump. The couple was married from 1977 to 1992 and had three children together, as well as nine grandchildren.
“She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric,” the former president wrote Thursday in a statement on his social media platform, Truth Social. “She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!”
Rob Shuter, an entertainment reporter who knew Ivana Trump, said the family was “devastated” by her death. Shuter said Trump wasn’t ill and was actually preparing for a trip to Saint-Tropez, France, which was “maybe her second favorite place in the world.”
“This has taken everybody by surprise,” Shuter said Friday on NewsNation’s “Rush Hour.” He described Trump as “bubbly.”
“She was a delight,” Shuter said.
Trump, a Czech-American former model, worked as a vice president of interior design for The Trump Organization after her marriage to the former president.
This is a breaking news story; it will be updated.