Who Was Reeva Steenkamp, Model Allegedly Murdered By Oscar Pistorius?

Reeva Steenkamp, who was allegedly murdered by South African paraplegic Olympian Oscar Pistorius, was much more than just a pretty face dating a star athlete. “She was a rising star,” Steenkamp’s publicists Sarit Tomlinson told the New York Post. “There was so much in the pipeline for her.”

Steenkamp was born in Cape Town and grew up in Port Elizabeth. She graduated from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2005, where she studied law, however any chances of being a lawyer were placed on the back burner when it became apparent she had a future as a model. Soon her modeling career took and she became the face of Avon, and was also featured in major advertisements for Toyota, Cover and FHM. FHM even named her one of the 100 sexiest women two years in a row.

Steenkamp met Pistorius through a mutual friend at a race back in November, but they didn't make their relationship official until two months ago. Steenkamp was scheduled to appear on the reality show Tropika Island of Treasure before she was slain. She was 29. —Hal Sundt