The body of Dutch model Ivana Smit who died in mysterious circumstances in Malaysia has been released by the local police, the family’s lawyer has confirmed.

Smit died on December 7 after falling from a balcony on the 20^th floor of an apartment block in the capital Kuala Lumpur. She had been out on the town and had gone home with an American couple. Her naked body was found on a sixth floor balcony.

The Malaysian authorities have said her death was an accident. Police said she was intoxicated at the time and blood tests revealed traces of alcohol, ecstasy and amphetamines in her system.

But her father, Marcel Smit, told the AD he saw blue marks resembling fingerprints round her neck when he was viewed her body.

Lawyer Sébas Diekstra says the priority now is to have her body brought back to the Netherlands. ‘Only then can we ask what additional information about Ivana’s death might be available,’ Diekstra said.