Reality TV star and interior designer to the stars Brooke Gomez was found dead in her Upper East Side apartment in New York City; her corpse in an advanced state of decomposition, cops said Wednesday (Nov 22).

Investigators suspect that Gomez, 49, had been dead for days before a concerned friend showed up at her tony Madison Avenue building near East 94th Street – just a block from Central Park – about 8pm Sunday and asked the building superintendent to check on her.

The friend told police she hadn’t heard from Gomez, who was a regular in the second season of Bethenny Frankel’s Bravo reality Show Bethenny Ever After, in at least a week.

No wounds were found on Gomez’s body, said police, who do not believe her death is suspicious. The city Medical Examiner will perform an autopsy to determine how she died.

Gomez appeared in the second season of Bethenny Ever After to help renovate and remodel Real Housewives star Bethenny Frankel’s US$5mil Tribeca home.

Considered a visionary in her field, Gomez was the daughter of celebrated decorator Mariette Himes Gomez, who also appeared in the reality show.

Her other A-list clients included stars Michael J. Fox and Sigourney Weaver.

Gomez’s Instagram page posted an announcement of her death Wednesday, describing the interior designer as “a light that shined brilliantly on everyone who knew her.”

Gomez’s last Instagram post was on Oct 23. In a cryptic message, she posted a photo of writing on the side of a building that read, “There’s a future version of you that is so proud you didn’t give up.” – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service