Playboy model and reality-TV star Anna Nicole Smith, who battled for years for the fortune of an octogenarian billionaire she married at 26, has died after being found unconscious in a Florida hotel room.

The buxom, platinum-blonde former Guess fashion spokeswoman and Playboy Playmate was found in a room at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, north of Miami, Seminole police chief Charlie Tiger said. She was 39.

“The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner,” said Tiger.

Smith’s younger sister Donna Hogan told CNN she guessed the death could be drug-related. “My heart is beating fast. I’m just very upset,” said an emotional Hogan.

Tiger said Smith had checked into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel Monday, accompanied by her lawyer and companion Howard Stern. He said Smith’s private nurse found her, that a bodyguard performed CPR on her and that she died at the medical center.

Another Smith attorney, Ron Rale, said he did not know the cause of death.

Smith’s death follows by four months the sudden death of her son Daniel, 20, who died in September in the Bahamas.

That came just days after Smith gave birth to a girl whose paternity has been disputed by a former boyfriend and Stern.

It was a tragic end to one of US pop culture’s larger-than-life Cinderella stories, and her former lawyer, Lenard Leeds, said she had emulated her idol Marilyn Monroe in death.

“She wanted to be like Marilyn her whole life and ironically died in a similar manner,” he said.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner described Smith as a dear friend.

“I am very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole’s passing,” Hefner said in a statement. “She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally.”

The animal protection group PETA said Smith “was a great friend to animals.