Presley Gerber, 27, son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, dies at a Santa Monica rehabilitation facility; police investigating as suspected overdose

Presley Gerber, 27, a model and the son of Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber and brother of model and actor Kaia Gerber, died Sunday at a rehabilitation facility in Santa Monica, California, according to online records of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner. Santa Monica Police said officers were called at approximately 9:35 a.m. Sunday to the 1000 block of Berkeley Street for a report of a possible overdose and found a deceased adult male later identified by the medical examiner as Gerber. The department said detectives are investigating the death as a suspected overdose, that there is no indication of foul play at this time, and that the official cause and manner of death will be determined by the medical examiner. The death was confirmed by Allie Jenkins, a representative for Crawford and Rande Gerber, who were married in 1998. "The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time," Jenkins said in an email Sunday night, according to NBC Connecticut, Boston.com and the Hollywood Reporter.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner said an examination was scheduled for Monday but that limited information was available as of Sunday and Monday, according to NBC Connecticut and The Hill. The Hollywood Reporter and Boston.com report that no cause of death was provided initially, and the New York Post reports the department said additional testing and/or studies were requested to make a determination. The Hill reports the department confirmed the exact cause and manner of death remain unknown.

Gerber was a model. Boston.com reports he was raised in Malibu, California, signed with the management agency IMG as a teenager, made his runway debut for Moschino at 16, appeared with his mother in a 2018 Pepsi Super Bowl advertisement, shot a Calvin Klein jeans campaign with his sister that year, and later signed with DNA Models. The Hollywood Reporter reports he was signed by IMG Models at 15 and walked for Dolce & Gabbana in Milan. His agency biography described him as an entrepreneur and model and an avid surfer and skater, according to Boston.com.

Boston.com reports that Gerber had spoken publicly about struggles with mental health and substance abuse, documenting them on Instagram and starting a "Mental Health Mondays" series in which he discussed experiences with substances including ketamine and kratom and time at rehabilitation facilities. He posted an Instagram video in March from Mexico saying he planned to take ibogaine, which Boston.com describes as a psychedelic studied as a treatment for opioid addiction and PTSD and banned in the U.S. under the federal government's most restrictive drug category, though President Donald Trump directed his administration to ease restrictions and spur research. The Hill reports that in December 2025 Gerber said on Instagram, according to People magazine, that his mental health treatment had focused on medication rather than alternative guidance from doctors, quoting him saying he had had 15 psychiatrists. Boston.com also quotes him describing in a July 2025 Instagram video how reduced physical activity affected his quality of life. The New York Post reports that he had previously acknowledged abusing alcohol, opioids, painkillers, anti-anxiety medications, benzodiazepines such as Xanax, and ketamine.

Kaia Gerber told Vogue last month that she praised her brother for being open about his experience with addiction, according to Boston.com, which quotes her saying her parents had been very private for most of their lives and that her brother says he is going to "be very human for everyone." Model Josie Canseco shared an image of Gerber on Instagram Stories and wrote, according to the New York Post, "Love you Pres. Doesn't feel real.. you deserved better than this, I'm so sorry it all got to this point.. we'll miss you forever." The New York Post reports Canseco and Gerber were connected through the modeling world and that Canseco's friend Charlotte D'Alessio dated Gerber in the late 2010s.

The New York Post reports, citing an unnamed source, that Gerber checked into the treatment center over the weekend, that he "felt like he was lacking purpose in his life," and that he wanted to be free of his addictions. The same outlet reports, citing 911 dispatch audio it obtained, that Gerber was in cardiac arrest and that responding paramedics pronounced him dead at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, about 10 minutes after police responded. The Hill and the New York Post both cite TMZ in reporting that family members were told he died from a suspected overdose; The Hill reports sources told TMZ he was living with other people at the rehab site.

The Hill reports Gerber was arrested for driving under the influence in 2018 and given three years' probation, and notes his death follows that of actress Hayden Panettiere, whose cause and manner of death have yet to be determined despite reports suggesting otherwise. The Hollywood Reporter reports he was arrested and charged with DUI in 2019, sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to complete a DUI program and two days of community service, and that in 2020 he had a facial tattoo reading "MISUNDERSTOOD" that he later seemingly had removed.

Where sources differ

• The date of Gerber's DUI arrest: the New York Post reports it occurred in December 2018, when he was 19; The Hill reports a 2018 arrest followed by three years' probation; the Hollywood Reporter reports a 2019 arrest and charge, with a sentence of three years' probation, completion of a DUI program and two days of community service.
• The status of the autopsy: Boston.com reports an autopsy was performed but more testing is required before a cause can be given; The Hill reports an autopsy had not yet been completed and that a Monday examination determined more testing would be needed; NBC Connecticut reports an examination was scheduled for Monday.
• The time of death: only the New York Post reports that paramedics pronounced Gerber dead at 9:45 a.m. Sunday; other sources state only that police responded to the location at about 9:35 a.m.
• The source of the overdose characterization: The Hill and the New York Post attribute the information that the family was told the death was a suspected overdose to TMZ, while the Hollywood Reporter attributes the suspected-overdose investigation to a Santa Monica Police Department statement.

• None of the sources establishes the official cause or manner of death; results of the requested additional testing or toxicology are not reported.
• The name of the rehabilitation facility where Gerber died is not given in any source, and no statement from the facility appears in any source.
• No source establishes who called 911 or made the report of a possible overdose, or identifies the other people reported to have been living at the rehab site.
• The reported family belief that the death was an overdose is attributed to TMZ by The Hill and the New York Post and is not confirmed by police or the medical examiner in any source.
• No source establishes whether any regulatory or law-enforcement review of the rehabilitation facility is planned or underway.
• Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber are not quoted directly in any source; their only statements appear through a representative.
• The sources do not reconcile the differing accounts of the timing of Gerber's DUI arrest or the status of the autopsy.
• The Hill's reference to the death of Hayden Panettiere is not explained or connected to Gerber's death in the supplied text.

1. NBC Connecticut — original — by NBC Staff and The Associated Press
2. Boston.com — by Associated Press
3. The Hill — by Sean Noone
4. Hollywood Reporter — by Kimberly Nordyke
5. New York Post — by Bernie Zilio
6. New York Post — by Edward Lewis

Read the original at NBC Connecticut

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