THE world of Playboy was rocked by tragedy last week after former Playmate Ashley Mattingly apparently took her own life at home aged just 33.
Yet the troubled model isn’t the first Playboy beauty to have met a devastating fate – with others shot dead, killed in car crashes and even found mutilated inside a suitcase.
“Gorgeous” Ashley, who was crowned Playmate Miss March 2011, was found dead at her home in Texas, US, after a concerned pal called police asking for a welfare check.
She is believed to have taken her own life and left behind “notes”, her family told The Sun.
While Ashley had “struggled with alcohol and substance abuse”, she was determined to get her life on track and was even training to become a pilot, according to her loved ones.
“We will forever cherish her memories and know that her joy is eternally sealed,” her grieving twin brother, William Mattingly, and her sister, Christy Deweese, said this week.
Here, as cops investigate Ashley’s death, we reveal other Playboy tragedies – from a model who plunged to her death with her young son to a pin-up star found mummified at home:
Hotel plunge with son, 7
Playmate: Stephanie Adams
In one of the most horrific incidents to hit Playboy, former Playmate Stephanie Adams plunged to her death from a New York hotel with her seven-year-old son in May 2018.
The 47-year-old – who was embroiled in a nasty custody battle with her ex – pushed little Vincent out of a 25th-floor window first, before jumping after him, police said.
Their bodies were later found on a second-floor landing in the hotel’s rear courtyard.
The double tragedy – which left fellow former Playmates “devastated” – was ruled a homicide-suicide by the New York City medical examiner, according to reports at the time.
Model-turned-author Stephanie – who starred as Playboy magazine’s Miss November 1992 – also wrote self-help books and ran an organic beauty products company during her life.
“Style and looks don’t mean lack of brains, sweetheart!” she once told the New York Post.
Mutilated then stuffed in suitcase
Model: Jasmine Fiore
In another horrendous case, the beaten, strangled and mutilated body of 28-year-old former Playboy model Jasmine Fiore was found stuffed inside a suitcase in August 2009.
The blood-soaked luggage was discovered dumped in a rubbish bin in a California alleyway.
Chillingly, Jasmine’s fingers and teeth had been removed, apparently to hamper identification efforts. Instead, she could only be ID’ed through the serial number on her breast implants.
Soon after the grisly discovery, Jasmine’s husband Ryan Jenkins – whom she’d married months earlier in Vegas – was charged with murder and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
But just days later, Jenkins, 32, was found dead in a Canadian motel room in an apparent suicide. Police believe he murdered his wife then mutilated her to avoid getting caught.
Jasmine, a bikini model, reportedly worked for Playboy for a year, but was never a Playmate.
High-speed car crash
Playmate: Jayne Mansfield
With her 40in bust and “voluptuous” figure, Playmate Jayne Mansfield fought Hollywood rival Marilyn Monroe for the blonde bombshell crown in the Fifties and Sixties.
But in June 1967, when she was just 34, her glittering life came to a grisly end when the car she was travelling in crashed into the back of a tractor-trailer in Louisiana, US.
The impact ripped off the top of the vehicle, killing Jayne instantly.
While it has long been rumoured that the glamorous mum of five was decapitated in the high-speed smash, her cause of death was ruled to be massive brain trauma.
Two others – Jayne’s lawyer boyfriend and their driver – died in the tragedy.
As well as being an early Playmate, Jayne is known for mastering the ‘accidental’ wardrobe malfunction and becoming the first actress to appear naked in a major Hollywood film.
Choked in bed
Model: Christina Carlin-Kraft
Known for her beautiful olive skin and green eyes, former Playboy model Christina Carlin-Kraft was only 36 when she was found dead at her home in Pennsylvania.
A court later heard she had been choked to death on her own bed by 31-year-old killer Jonathan Harris, who had tied her hands to prevent her from fighting back.
Jurors were told her last moments on Earth were “horrendous and horrifying”.
Christina – named Playboy Cyber Girl of the Week on May 4, 2009 – was of Russian, German and Swedish heritage, and had also starred in shoots for Victoria’s Secret and Maxim.
Her body was found by police during a welfare check in August 2018.
Although Harris tried to claim in court that he was “high out of his mind” on ketamine and didn’t mean to kill Christina, he was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.
He’s now serving life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
Raped and shot by husband
Playmate: Dorothy Stratten
Described as a shy and naive young beauty, Dorothy Stratten achieved all Playboy models’ dream when she was crowned Playmate of the Year in 1980.
The 20-year-old was tipped to be “the next Marilyn Monroe” – but before the year was up, she was raped and shot dead by her estranged husband in a murder-suicide.
The attack on August 14, 1980, was carried out by Paul Snider, a small-time hustler and rumoured pimp to whom Dorothy had been briefly married.
He battered Dorothy before blasting her in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun, leaving her naked body barely recognisable. He then turned the weapon on himself.
It is thought that Snider was jealous of his estranged wife’s rising stardom and furious that she had filed for divorce when he committed the atrocity in Los Angeles, California.
Bathtub horror
Playmate: Cassandra Lynn Hensley
In a more recent Playboy tragedy, former Playmate and mum-of-two Cassandra Lynn Hensley was found dead in a bathtub in January 2014 aged just 34.
The married model – who was crowned Playmate Miss February 2006 – had reportedly been binging on cocaine and booze in the hours before her death in California.
A representative for her family told E! News at the time: “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of Cassandra Hensley’s passing from a tragic and accidental overdose.
“We are all very grateful for the outpouring of support from friends, family, and fans.”
As well as her two children, Cassandra left behind husband Gary – who was further devastated to learn his wife had spent the night before her death with another man.
Mummified over months
Playmate: Yvette Vickers
Early Playmate Yvette Vickers also met a grisly fate – though her death itself wasn’t violent.
The Hollywood sex symbol – who was in her early 80s – was found mummified at her Los Angeles home in April 2011, having died from heart failure up to a year earlier.
Yvette’s body was found by worried neighbour Susan Savage, who entered the house when she noticed letters in the actress and pin-up star’s post box were yellowing.
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Susan said at the time: “She kept to herself, had friends and seemed like a very independent spirit. We’ve all been crying. Nobody should be left alone like that.”
Twice-wed beauty Yvette – who starred in Attack of The 50ft Woman and Attack Of The Giant Leeches – was named Playmate of the Month in Playboy’s July 1959 issue.
It’s been rumoured that the now-late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner paid for her funeral.