An NYU student who died of an apparent suicide on Tuesday has been identified as 18-year-old Rowen Altenburger. The young artist from New Jersey was staying at the Bryant Park Hotel when her mother called staff and asked them to check on the teen. They discovered Altenburger with a plastic bag over her head at about 12:30PM. The Daily News reports:
A suicide note in which Altenburger referenced her depression and apologized for taking her life was found inside the room, next to several prescription medications for depression, police sources said.
Yesterday, she also published the above drawing — which looks as if it has prescription labels affixed to it — to her Instagram (@rowenbrea) with the caption: “Channeling I’m not real I think I never was,” likely a reference to a death-themed image she posted months back.
A week ago, Altenburger uploaded an image captioned “This snow got me like.” It was a photo of her illustration of a young woman who appears to be choking herself.
