Waris Dirie, a former model, author and spokesperson against female genital mutilation, is missing, according to reports Friday.
Dirie, 43, has not been seen since early Wednesday when police saw her getting into a taxi in Brussels. "We are really very scared," said Walter Lutschinger, who has been her manager for seven years.
Dirie's disappearance comes just one week after French police found the body of another former African model who had campaigned against female genital mutilation.
Guinean-born Katoucha Niane's body was found floating in the Seine River in Paris. French police said an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that the 47-year-old Niane may have fallen accidentally into the river.
Dirie was born in Somalia and now lives in Vienna, Austria. She wrote a best-selling autobiography, "Desert Flower," and three sequels, "Desert Dawn," "Desert Children" and "Nomad's Daughter," and served as a U.N. goodwill ambassador to fight the practice of female genital mutilation.
Dirie followed in the footsteps of her famous cousin Iman into the world of modeling in the 1980s, modeling in Chanel ads and being featured in the 1987 James Bond film "In Living Daylights".
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