14 DAY TRIAL // A 22-year-old fashion designer intern from New York City has taken her life by jumping off the George Washington Bridge on Wednesday, February 6. Friends' accounts reveal that she committed suicide on her birthday.
A self-proclaimed fashionista, Ashley Riggitano wrote down her last thoughts before taking her final leap into the Hudson River, at 4:40 p.m. Her handwritten diary was recovered in her Louis Vuitton handbag, placed on the bridge walkway.
Police recovered a series of prescription drugs from her purse, The Hollywood Gossip mentioning Adderall, used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
A bottle of anti-anxiety drug Klonopin, taken to stop and prevent panic attacks, was also found. She reportedly had a history of mental problems, which included at least one unsuccessful suicide attempt.
A “grudge list” has been included in her diary, with Riggitano naming 5 girls who have supposedly caused her emotional distress.
“All my other ‘friends’ are in it for gossip, never there,” she wrote. She added that she wished they weren't invited to her funeral.
Her final account also mentions a man, presumably an ex-boyfriend, adding she hoped he “gets what he deserves."
A recent graduate of the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in Manhattan, Riggitano interned for jewelry and fashion designer Alex Woo.
“She didn’t look like she was the kind of person who was bullied at all,” Woo stated for the Daily Mail.
She had just started her own bracelet design company named Missfits. According to the New York Post, her business partner Victoria Van Thunen, mentioned in the diary, criticizes Riggitano's gesture, posting a harsh comment online the day of her death.
“Those who incessantly blame others as the cause of their issues should perhaps take a step back and reevaluate these situations.
“The common thread may be that ‘they’ aren’t the problem, but rather that YOU are,” Thunen notes.