Newly-revealed photographs of Reeva Steenkamp show the South African beauty as a young aspiring model, and as a star cover girl, just months before her tragic death.
One group of images,
taken by Reeva's friend Kerry Smith some eight years ago, show the then
21-year-old law student and modeling wannabe posing on the beach at Port
Elizabeth, South Africa, where she grew up -- and where her grieving
parents recently scattered her ashes.
Her dark hair, freckles
and innocent good looks are a world away from the shots of a bikini-clad
Reeva featured in glossy magazines which millions around the world are
now familiar with.
"That's Reeva in her
natural beauty," Smith said. "Not a stitch of makeup on. Hair blowing in
the wind with the sea behind her, sun setting behind her."
That's a view of the
model shared by another photographer, Gareth Barclay, who took a series
of pictures of Reeva in the months before her death.