Ivana Esther Robert Smit, 18, was found dead at a condominium in downtown KL on Dec 7.
The case was initially classified as sudden death but investigations have been re-opened following pressure from the family and the Dutch embassy.
Ivana’s family has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise €5,000 (RM24,113) to enable a Dutch pathologist and an American investigator to come to Malaysia to determine if her death was accidental or had criminal elements.
As at 3pm, €1,240 (RM5,979) has been raised.
“Donations are needed for the funding of the pathologist and researcher who will travel to Malaysia to determine the cause of death, if it was an accident or a crime.
“Please help the Smit family to find out the true facts about the tragic death of their daughter, sister, and niece, Ivana Smit,” the family wrote on the Dutch crowdfunding site, Doneeractie.
Ivana died on the morning of Dec 7 after she fell from the window of a 20th floor unit of the apartment building, landing on the balcony of a 6th floor mezzanine of the CapSquare Residences off Jalan Dang Wangi.
An American man and his Kazakhstan wife were with the victim in the apartment after they had gone out together the previous night.
Ivana’s last communication was with her boyfriend at 7.30am on Dec 7.
The family is suspicious over the circumstances surrounding her death, claiming Ivana had marks and bruises on her neck that looked “like fingerprints”, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) reported.
The model’s father, Marcel Smit, told AD that it was unlikely that Ivana had accidentally fallen from the balcony of the condominium unit as the balustrade reached a height of 1.21m while Ivana was 1.81m tall.
Initially, Dang Wangi district police chief ACP Shaharuddin Abdullah had said that police did not suspect any foul play.
It was also reported that Ivana was under the influence of intoxicating substances.
On Tuesday, Shaharuddin said the case was being re-examined by investigators because of her family’s suspicion of foul play, theSun Daily reported.
“The case remains classified as sudden death for now. However, if we find incriminating evidence that indicates foul play in her death, we will re-classify the case.
“As of now we have yet to find this and we are also waiting for the full post-mortem report to be ready,” he told the daily.
Ivana, who is a Dutch national, grew up and studied in Penang as she was under the care of her grandparents since the age of the 3.