'Let me leave this nightmare': Former Playboy centrefold jumps to death with seven-year-old son
A former Playboy centrefold involved in a custody battle has jumped with her seven-year-old son to their deaths from the 25th floor of a Manhattan hotel, law enforcement officials confirmed.
Stephanie Adams and her son Vincent fell 23 floors and were found on a second-floor balcony at about 8.15am today in the rear courtyard of the Gotham Hotel.
They had checked into the hotel's penthouse suite at about 6 pm yesterday, officials said, just hours after Ms Adams told the New York Post that her husband and his lawyer were blocking her from taking her son away on vacation.
"All I want to do is take my son and get away from this nightmare for a few days," the Post quoted Adams as saying.
"But they won't let me."
The law enforcement officials said the 46-year-old Ms Adams, who first posed for Playboy in 1992, was involved in a custody dispute over Vincent with her estranged husband, a Manhattan chiropractor named Charles Nicolai.
They said police had been called to their home several times in the past few months. The officials were not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Mr Nicolai's lawyer did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the case. A receptionist who answered the phone at Mr Nicolai's office said he would not comment and was unreachable.
Ms Adams and Mr Nicolai had been in "a very tough custody case", said Raoul Felder, a divorce lawyer who represented her for a time.
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https://www.9news.com.au/world/2018/05/19/05/44/playboy-model-centrefold-stephanie-adams-vincent-gotham-hotel-new-york