Ivana Trump dead at 73: Former president's ex-wife discovered by paramedics in NYC apartment

Ivana Trump, the former wife of President Donald J. Trump died Thursday at age 73, her family confirmed for ABC News.

She was the first wife and the mother of the former president’s three children: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump.

Former President Donald Trump confirmed for ABC News that the once stunning Czech cover model died at her residence in Manhattan, New York City. Police said she was reportedly found unresponsive and unconscious at the based level of a staircase in her apartment.

NYPD detectives and the NYC Medical Examiner are investigating whether the former international businesswoman fell.

“Our mother was an incredible woman, a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend," the Trump family said in a statement. “Ivana Trump was a survivor. She fled from communism and embraced this country. She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren."

NYC medics who responded to a 911 call for a cardiac arrest at Ivana’s Upper East Side apartment, discovered her just after 12:30 p.m. Thursday, according to FDNY reports. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to New York police.

As Eric Trump left his mother's apartment building Thursday afternoon, he told journalists, "It's a very, very sad day guys," the New York Post reported. “It’s a very sad day.”

The former president also said kind words about his former wife.

In a statement on his platform Truth Social, Trump honored Ivana as a “wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life,” adding that “her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her."

Ivana was born Ivana Marie Zelníčková under Soviet bloc rule in Czechoslovakia. She defected in the 1970s and met Trump in 1976. She married him the following year and quickly becoming an international sensation around the world and especially in Manhattan and Palm Beach.

The cover model quickly proved her brains matched her beauty by working as a senior executive within the Trump Organization.

She became the CEO of Trump’s Atlantic City, New Jersey casino, Trump’s Castle, and was one of the interior designers of some of the company’s key hotels and buildings. She served as vice president of interior design and manager of Trump Plaza.

She later became a successful author and ran her own clothing brand. She was highly respected as an attentive mother who never became too busy to spend time with her children.

In her personal memoir, “Raising Trump” she wrote that "the kids and I celebrated, traveled, and grieved together. Our bond was, and is, our most valuable possession."

Despite their synergy, Ivana divorced the former president after 15 years in 1992 after the Czech model discovered her husband was having an extramarital relationship with flight attendant Marla Maples. Despite Trump later marrying Maples, Ivana was known for handling the transition gracefully and she and her former husband remained close friends.

After she became single again, Ivana married twice, first to Italian businessman Riccardo Mazzucchelli in 1995 whom she divorced two years later and then again to Rossano Rubicondi in 2008 who was 20 years younger than her. They were married at Trump’s Mar a Lago in Palm Beach, Florida and her daughter, Ivanka was the maid of honor. They divorced a year later.

It has been reported that during his presidency, Donald Trump often called Ivana for advice and she affectionately enjoyed calling herself “the real Mrs. Trump.”

In 1988 she told Vanity Fair that “Donald calls me his twin as a woman.”

This story is continuing to develop.