An 18-year-old New Jersey woman was found dead in her room at The Bryant Park Hotel in midtown Tuesday afternoon, an apparent suicide.
Rowen Altenburger, who lived in Short Hills, N.J., was discovered with a bag over her head after her mother called the hotel and asked staff to check on her, police said. Prescription medications and a suicide note were found at the scene, police said. “She apparently suffered from chronic depression,” said a cop.
EMS pronounced Altenburger dead shortly after arriving around 12:35 p.m.
“She was an amazing girl. Very bright, very well spoken and very artistic,” said Rebecca Matthews, a manager at the Links of London jewelry store on Madison Avenue, where Altenburger worked as a sales associate. “She had a bright future ahead of her. This is just so sad,” she said.
Altenburger’s LinkedIn profile said she was an NYU student studying creative management and art direction, and that she expected to graduate in 2017. She had posted examples of her art on Cosmofunnel, and one ink and watercolor painting she had titled “There’s something greater than this,” carried the caption: “There are better places than where we are today, and a better place where we can be tomorrow.”
A spokesman for the Bryant Park Hotel released a statement saying the Hotel was working closely with authorities. “Our hearts and prayers are with the parents of the victim,” it said.
NYU did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
