NEWSWho Was Cheslie Kryst? Inside The Life Of The Former Pageant Star Who Tragically Fell To Her Death
Jan. 31 2022, Published 2:17 p.m. ET
Former pageant queen Cheslie Kryst was found dead under horrific circumstances after falling to her death from a New York City building in the early morning of Sunday, January 30.
As OK! reported, Kryst was found around 7:15 A.M. in the street below the 60-story Orion building, where she lived on the ninth floor. She was last seen by witnesses on the 29th floor terrace.
New York Police officers declared her dead on the scene in what appeared to be a suicide, although authorities are still investigating the situation.
While the world is still awaiting answers to what led to her devastating passing, other details have emerged regarding Kryst's life in the time leading up to her death.
Here is everything we know about Cheslie Kryst before she plummeted to her death.
Kryst, 30, was known for being crowned as Miss USA in 2019, for which she made history as being the oldest woman to ever win the title. She was 28 years old at the time.
She also worked as an EXTRA cohost alongside Billy Bush, who called the tragic news a "complete shock to us all," per Daily Mail.
Aside from her time on TV and in the pageant world, Kryst was respected for her extensive work advocating for social justice.
After receiving a Bachelor's degree in marketing and human resource management from the University of South Carolina, she attended the Wake Forest University School of Law and eventually earned her law license.
She worked as a complex civil litigation attorney before leaving the practice following her Miss USA win. And while Kryst went on to compete for the title of Miss Universe, she never stopped fighting for social justice.
Following the news of her passing, Kryst's family released a statement to confirm her death and celebrate the work she did throughout her life.
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- Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst Reflected On 'Running Out Of Time' In Cryptic Essay Nearly One Year Before Tragically Falling To Her Death
- 'Extra' TV Show In Mourning: Billy Bush Co-Host Leaps To Her Death From New York City High-Rise
"Cheslie embodied love and served others, whether through her work as an attorney fighting for social justice, as Miss USA and as a host on EXTRA," her grieving family members wrote. "But most importantly, as a daughter, sister, friend, mentor and colleague — we know her impact will live on."
After news of her death made headlines, her fans flocked to her social media pages to pay their respects, which was where they couldn't help but notice her cryptic last post that was shared on the same day she fell to her death.
"May this day bring you rest and peace ❤️," the caption on the haunting post read, causing many to wonder whether the image was supposed to serve as a final message before seemingly taking her own life.
According to Daily Mail, the former pageant star is believed to have left a suicide note on her computer. However, the contents of the note have not yet been disclosed.
Police officers told the outlet they are "doing what we can to investigate what's left. Preliminarily, it doesn't appear there's any criminality to it. The prevailing theory is that it was a suicide. No evidence has come forward that would change that theory at this point. But we're not ruling anything else out at this point."
While friends of Kryst told the publication they were "stunned" over the news and hadn't seen any signs of mental health struggles, the TV personality previously opened up about the challenges she's faced being a beauty queen and how she's dealt with "trolls."
As OK! reported, Kryst penned an essay for Allure magazine nearly one year before her death, where she revealed she deleted her social media comments on multiple occasions after receiving, "vomit emojis and insults telling me I wasn't pretty enough to be Miss USA or that my muscular build was actually a 'man body.'"
She also talked about the suffocating pressure to accomplish goals against the "relentless tick of time," which led her to overwork herself and end up in the hospital.
"Why work so hard to capture the dreams I've been taught by society to want when I continue to only find emptiness?" she questioned in the essay, noting that she was always "rewarded with a lonely craving for the next award."
She concluded at the end of the essay that entering her 30th year on Earth was going to be full of "searching for joy and purpose on my own terms," although her tragic death would come just 10 months later.
