An upcoming true crime series will delve into the mysterious death of a former Penthouse ‘Pets of the Year’ whose body was found washed up in a restricted area of a Marine Corps base with her neck broken.
Anneka Vasta, whose real name was Marjorie Lee Thoreson, lived a life of relative glamor in the 1970s and 1980s.
She rose to fame after being named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1975, under the name Anneka Di Lorenzo, and later appeared in Bob Guccione’s infamous softcore film Caligula.
But in January 2011, two joggers found the 58-year-old man’s naked body in a restricted area on a Navy training beach at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, California.
Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the sordid details as an episode of Lethally Blonde prepares to unravel the case.
An upcoming true crime series will delve into the mysterious case of former Penthouse Pet of the Year Anneka Vasta.
In January 2011, two joggers found the 58-year-old man’s naked body in a restricted area on a Navy training beach (pictured) at Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.
Anneka, who was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, had been through a difficult path from the beginning.
She dropped out of high school and moved to Los Angeles, after her parents divorced in 1965, where she worked as a receptionist, waitress, and topless dancer.
She met photographer and editor Bob Guccione, who founded the adult magazine Penthouse in 1973.
The businessman quickly agreed to make her the pet of the month for September, flying her to New York and then London for photo shoots that would make her the center of attention.
The magazine’s editor also got her the role of the Roman empress Messalina in Caligula.
And Anneka, who was then called Di Lorenzo, was quoted at the time as saying: ‘How famous do I want to be?
“Let’s say I’m going to be the sexiest woman in the world.”
But it turned out to be not so simple.
The star (left) had been named Penthouse Pet of the Year in 1975, under the name Anneka Di Lorenzo, and appeared in Bob Guccione’s infamous soft porn film Caligula (right).
Anneka (pictured alongside Swiss artist HR Giger), whose real name was Marjorie Lee Thoreson, lived a life of relative glamor in the 1970s and 1980s.
Her career suffered in the aftermath of the 1979 feature film, which was the first major film to feature eminent actors, including Helen Mirren, in explicit sex scenes.
Anneka’s on-screen career soon foundered and her last role was a small role as a nurse in Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill.
Things only got worse when she sued Guccione in 1988 for sexual harassment and he was found guilty of forcing her to have sex with two business partners.
Despite being awarded a groundbreaking $4 million in damages, Anneka only won a measly $4.06 after an appeal ruled the money was not recoverable and voided the award.
Guccione, who died at age 79 in 2010, counterattacked by reprinting photographs of Anneka’s lesbian love scene in Caligula with Lori Wagner in the February 1991 issue of Penthouse.
Anneka sued Bob Guccione in 1988 for sexual harassment and he was convicted of forcing her to have sex with two business partners.
Anneka, who was divorced and both employed and unemployed at the time of her death, lived near her sister, Susan Thoreson, in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.
Susan said the actress, who had a daughter, had begun showing signs of mental problems about six or eight years earlier, suffering attacks of paranoia and anxiety, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The former Penthouse model is believed to have left Los Angeles in the early hours of Jan. 2, 2011, and headed south in a brown Mazda with many of her belongings packed in the trunk, the newspaper said.
Shortly before 6 a.m. he rented a room at a Motel 6, but never wanted to leave.
He drove until 8:30 a.m., making calls to family and friends, the last of them from near where he parked his car, which was found. at a popular overlook along Interstate 5.
Anneka’s death remains a mystery despite there being no explicit evidence that a crime was committed.
But what happened after that is a mystery, and authorities are struggling to determine how Anneka got from the vantage point 60 feet above sea level to the rocky sand below, more than a mile to the south.
His body was found by two joggers after the sea washed him onto the military training beach.
Anneka, who had suffered a broken neck and back, was determined to have drowned.
When investigators discovered the Mazda, her phone and purse were still inside, as well as a blood-stained leopard-print blouse and a sports bra, which was wrapped in a Motel 6 plastic bag.
A steak knife with Anneka’s blood on it was found next to the passenger’s footwell.
Lithium and an empty bottle of Xanax were found in the car, but an autopsy showed no drugs in the dead woman’s body.
The medical examiner reported superficial cuts on Anneka’s wrists, consistent with a half-hearted suicide attempt.
He also had two stab wounds in the chest, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported at the time.
But Anneka’s three sisters maintained that she would not have taken her own life and were concerned that her neck and back were broken while she was still alive.
Her family believes the star’s outspoken nature could have gotten her into trouble.
“She’s like a little girl on the street. A stranger might walk by and she will strike up a conversation with them,” Susan told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Anneka’s death remains a mystery despite there being no explicit evidence that a crime was committed.
Lethally Blonde Series Premieres on Investigation Discovery March 25