NEW YORK: The 17-year-old daughter of the US ambassador to Thailand plunged to her death from a midcity luxury high-rise early Friday morning, United States media reported.

Nicole John fell out of a 25th storey window of the Herald Square Towers on West 34th Street, landing on the building's third-floor overhang, according to police sources.

Nicole: Schooled in Bangkok

She was found with severe trauma to the body, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A man was in custody facing charges of endangering the welfare of a minor.

The man's relationship to Nicole was not immediately clear.

Nicole's  father,  Eric  John,  was appointed US ambassador to Thailand in 2007. The State Department website says he and his wife Sophia also have a son Adam who was born in Thailand.

Investigators believe Nicole was part of a group of young revellers who were partying in the 25th-floor apartment near the Empire State Building in the moments before the 4.15am local time tragedy, according to sources.

"They'd been drinking," said Robert Pena, the building engineer at the Herald Square Towers, who saw the pack of partygoers walking through the building's lobby just before 4am.

"They'd invited some other people back from a club," Mr Pena said. 

Though the circumstances of Nicole's death  remain  under  investigation, witnesses told police they thought she was leaning out of the window for some fresh air when she tipped forward and fell, the sources said.

A 25-year-old man identified as the host of the part was removed from the building in handcuffs in the hour after Nicole's death, witnesses said. Police said he has been charged with supplying liquor to Nicole and other minors.

Nicole graduated from the International School of Bangkok last year.

According to the New York Daily News police reporters:

About 10 people were inside when Nicole John took off her shoes, climbed out of the window onto a ledge and plunged to her death, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

A witness from an adjacent building saw John fall and called police, Kelly said.

By the time officers arrived, the apartment had been completely cleaned up, he added.

 Investigators found a small camera beside her body, leading them to believe that she climbed outside to take a picture.

Nicole had a fake Brazilian ID, suggesting she was 23 or 24.

From the Bangkok Post

to much party ????

I lived in that apartment on 20th floor for 2 months last year. Lots of Parson student in that building. I stayed with one of them. She was 23 and went out party every night and I hardly see her. I am now only 3 blocks away from that building. It is big news in New York now and on TV news many times a day.

Very sad.