Anna Nicole Smith, the former Playboy playmate and a Marilyn Monroe-wannabe died in mysterious circumstances in Florida last night. The 39-year-old Smith was found Thursday in an "unconscious and unresponsive" state in her room at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino & Hotel in Hollywood.

It was not immediately clear what she was doing in Florida although the hotel staff did say that she had stayed there on numerous occasions previously. Even the cause of her sudden death remains a mystery. Dr. Joshua Perper, the chief Broward County medical examiner is scheduled to perform an autopsy on Friday. He said that if the death was from natural causes, the results would be released pretty soon, but it could take weeks for anything definitive to emerge. Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger said that a distress call was made by a private nurse after Smith was found in her room. Her bodyguard tried to administer CPR as did the paramedics. However they were unable to revive her.

Anna Nicole's sudden death adds another footnote to what had been a tragic last few months ion her life. On September 7 last year, she gave birth to a daughter Dannielynn Hope, but her joy turned to despair when her 20-year-old son Daniel died three days later.

A private autopsy confirmed that Daniel died due to a combination of medications including methadone, Zoloft and Lexapro. His death shattered Anna Nicole and she went into seclusion. However in an interview to Entertainment Tonight, she revealed her despair at losing him, "I don't understand why God took him and didn't take me."

As if Daniel's death was not tragic enough, Anna Nicole got tangled into a paternity battle with both Howard Stern and her former boyfriend Larry Birkhead claiming to be Dannielynn's father. On Wednesday, a judge had ordered that Smith and Dannielynn submit to a DNA test s to settle the paternity claims.

Smith was a topless dancer at a strip club in Texas and a waitress at Jim’s Krispy Fried Chicken before she attained notoriety when she appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. By then she had a son, Daniel from her marriage to 16-year-old fry cook Bill Smith in 1985, whom she divorced a couple of years later.

In 1993 she was the Playboy Playmate and signed a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials as well as billboards.

Her marriage to Texas oil tycoon J Howard Marshall was one of the stories of 1994. The 90-year-old Marshall died 14 months later setting off a legal battle over his millions. His stepson E. Pierce Marshall contended that Anna Nicole had no right to the estate.

A federal court awarded her $474 million, but the decision was later overturned. Anna Nicole became a reality TV star with "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04.

Reacting to her sudden death, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, said in a statement to CNN, "I'm very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole's passing. She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally. My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and loved ones during this difficult time."

The life of Anna Nicole resembled a soap opera with many twists at unexpected times. However the final knot has left many saddened and a 5-month-old girl lonely and motherless.