Anti-bullying activist Dawson found dead in Oz

Australian TV star and former model Charlotte Dawson, who became an anti-bullying activist after she was targeted online, has been found dead at age 47.

Famed for shows such as Australia’s Next Top Model, the New Zealand-born star had a history of depression. She was found dead in her Sydney apartment on Saturday morning. Police said there were no suspicious circumstances, which is how they usually describe suicide.

Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph reported that she was found hanged.

In 2012, she was admitted to a Sydney hospital after a suicide attempt following an ongoing tirade of abuse on Twitter. She had taken prescription tablets with wine and tweeted “you win” in a suicide note to her cyber tormentors.

She later made fighting bullying her personal mission, waging an anti-bullying media campaign on traditional media as well as Twitter.

Her efforts and high public profile on the issue were recognised by the National Rugby League, a major Australian football association, which last year made her an anti-bullying ambassador.

Dawson revealed in her 2012 autobiography Air Kiss & Tell that she was frequently visited by the “depression bogeyman”.

She had long graced the pages of gossip magazines and scenes in reality TV shows. Her modelling career had taken her around the world during the 1980s.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key tweeted he was “shocked and saddened” by her death.