Navy Plea Over Penthouse Model's Death

Navy detectives have pleaded for help from the public to solve the mystery of a former Penthouse model and movie star found washed up on a military training beach in California.

Anneka Vasta's body was discovered by joggers on the sands at Camp Pendleton near San Diego in January.

But the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) has just revealed the depth of the mystery.

A post-mortem examination revealed she had a broken neck and back and had drowned.
Ms Vasta was known as Anneka Di Lorenzo when she was Penthouse magazine's 'Pet of the Year' in 1975 and appeared nude in the racy 1979 movie 'Caligula'.

She dated Penthouse founder Bob Guccione and then won a landmark sexual harassment case against him. A judge in New York awarded her more than \$4m (£2.5m) in 1990 although it was overturned on appeal.

Ms Vasta, 58, who was divorced, had recently been working as a nursing assistant in Los Angeles.

Her sister Susan Thoreson said the former model was emotionally fragile and suffered bouts of paranoia during which she would flee.

She was last seen alive when she drove away from her home in January but detectives have only just issued a public appeal for help.

NCIS investigators are hoping someone remembers seeing her along the highway close to where her body was found. Her car was found parked at a scenic lookout on top of the 60-foot bluff above the sandy beach. Her purse and cell phone were inside.

Investigators say that if she jumped or fell from the bluff her body would not have hit the water because the tide does not come up that far. They say there is no explicit evidence of foul play.

Special Agent Rachel McGranaghan, who is leading the investigation, said: "The main unanswered question that we have is how she got from her vehicle to the water.

"We know her life ended in the water, in some circumstance, we just don't know how."

Her colleague, Special Agent Jason Keller, told the Los Angeles Times: "We've run every lead to ground."

Ms Vasta's family is reported to have said they do not believe should would have committed suicide.

Camp Pendleton military police said the slender naked body found on the beach was so youthful in appearance they initially thought she was a teenager.