Presley Gerber, the 27-year-old model and son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, was found dead in a bedroom at a luxury Santa Monica rehabilitation home, one day after he checked in, reportedly already under the influence of a substance.
Gerber's body was discovered Sunday night, Sept. 20, near the bed in his room at Resolutions Living, a $7.7 million rehabilitation home in Santa Monica, California. A source close to the investigation told Page Six that his body was found near, but not on, the bed. He had checked into the facility that same weekend and arrived under the influence of an unspecified substance.
The Santa Monica Police Department is investigating the death as a suspected overdose, with no indication of foul play, Fox News reported. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner deferred the official cause of death, stating that additional testing and studies had been requested, a process that could take months.
Dispatch audio obtained by Page Six revealed that Gerber was treated for a suspected overdose after going into cardiac arrest. Fentanyl has not yet come up in the investigation, sources told TMZ, but the full toxicology picture remains incomplete.
What has surfaced raises pointed questions about the care Gerber received before and during his stay at the facility. Sources said a doctor had prescribed ketamine to Gerber despite his reported "regular problem" with the drug. In the months before his death, Gerber had a 24/7 sober coach who was described as "very present" in his life. Whether that coach was at Resolutions Living when Gerber died remains unclear.
He checked into the facility the same weekend he was pronounced dead, and arrived already under the influence. That timeline alone demands scrutiny. A young man with a known substance problem walked into a rehab facility in an impaired state and was dead within a day.
Gerber's battles with substance abuse and mental health were not hidden. In 2018, he received a DUI that put him on probation for three years. Last November, he posted on social media about stepping back to address his mental health.
He wrote that he "had to step back and take care of my own mental health for a bit," and said he planned to return "stronger, clearer, more intentional than ever." He later launched a social media series he called "Mental Health Mondays," which he described as an effort:
"to spark real conversations about the stuff most people hide"
But a source who spoke exclusively to Page Six painted a different picture of Gerber's final weeks. The source said Presley "seemed off" in the period leading up to his death and "didn't seem like himself."
Nicholas Kardaris, a psychologist and CEO of the New York Center for Living, offered a blunt assessment of the broader reality facing rehab patients. "People are in rehab because they're struggling with addiction," Kardaris told Fox News. "It doesn't mean they're cured of their addiction."
Gerber's sister, Kaia Gerber, is reportedly struggling with the loss. A source told Page Six the two siblings were "insanely close."
"I don't know how she's going to go on without him."
The Gerber-Crawford family issued a brief statement asking for "privacy during this very difficult and painful time." The family believes Presley died of an overdose, the New York Post reported, citing TMZ.
Model Josie Canseco, daughter of former MLB player Jose Canseco, mourned Gerber publicly on Instagram:
"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."
Legal and medical experts have cautioned against premature conclusions about liability or cause of death. Attorney John J. Perlstein noted the burden families carry in these situations: "It seems like, you know, in these situations the families do so much for the sick person, the person who was addicted."
Still, the open questions are serious. Who prescribed ketamine to a patient with a known problem with the drug? Was the sober coach who had been monitoring Gerber for months present when he entered the facility? How did a young man arrive at a luxury rehab home under the influence and end up dead within hours?
The official cause of death may take months to determine. The investigation continues. But the facts already on the table, a known addict, a ketamine prescription, an impaired arrival, and a body found near a bed in a $7.7 million facility, suggest that someone, somewhere in the system built to protect Presley Gerber, failed him before the coroner ever got involved.
When the people paid to keep watch can't keep a 27-year-old alive for 48 hours, the system isn't working, no matter how much the building costs.
