Presley Gerber Dead at 27: Cindy Crawford’s Son’s Cause of Death

• Presley Gerber, the model son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, died on Sunday, Sept. 20. He was 27.
• Santa Monica police are investigating his death as a suspected overdose and say there is no sign of foul play. The medical examiner lists the cause as deferred.
• He had spoken publicly for years about depression and addiction, and stepped back from work in November 2025 to focus on his mental health.

Presley Gerber, the model and only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, died on Sunday, Sept. 20, in Santa Monica, California. He was 27.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner confirmed the death and said he died at a treatment facility. The family released a one-line statement asking “for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”

What was Presley Gerber’s cause of death?

It has not been determined. The Medical Examiner’s case record lists the cause as “deferred,” the status it uses while toxicology and other tests are pending. Those results can take weeks or months.

The Santa Monica Police Department said officers responded at about 9:35 a.m. on Sunday to a report of a possible overdose. Detectives are handling the case as a suspected overdose, and police said there is no indication of foul play.

Dispatch audio released after his death describes a call for a cardiac arrest and an apparent overdose at the same address.

According to NBC News, which cited a law enforcement source, Gerber had checked into the facility at 10 p.m. on Saturday, less than 12 hours earlier, and was found unresponsive in the room where he had been sleeping.

What had Presley Gerber said about addiction and mental health?

More than most people raised in front of cameras, he talked about it himself, and for years.

In January 2019, at 19, he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. He was sentenced to three years of probation, a DUI program and two days of community service.

In 2020 he had the word “Misunderstood” tattooed under his eye. When the backlash came, he explained it: “It says misunderstood, because that’s how I felt my entire life.”

In 2023, on the Studio 22 podcast, he said he had since had the tattoo removed, and talked about depression in terms he would repeat for the rest of his life. He said he wanted to “help one person or a hundred people get out of that place.”

He later turned that into Mental Health Mondays, a recurring Instagram series about depression and addiction. In November 2025 he wrote that he “had to step back and take care of my own mental health.”

Who are Presley Gerber’s parents?

His mother, Cindy Crawford, 60, was one of the defining supermodels of the late 1980s and 1990s. His father, Rande Gerber, 64, is a nightlife entrepreneur who co-founded the tequila brand Casamigos with George Clooney and Mike Meldman.

The three sold Casamigos to Diageo in 2017 in a deal worth up to $1 billion, which is why Rande Gerber’s net worth is one of the searches trending alongside his son’s name. Crawford and Gerber married in 1998.

Presley’s younger sister, Kaia Gerber, 25, is also a model and actress.

How did Presley Gerber become a model?

Presley Walker Gerber was born on July 2, 1999, in the Los Angeles area. He signed with IMG Models at 15 and made his runway debut for Moschino a year later.

Over the next three years he walked for Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, Bottega Veneta and Ralph Lauren, and appeared in campaigns for Calvin Klein, Celine and Omega.

His best-known moment with his mother came in 2018, when the two appeared in Pepsi’s Super Bowl ad, a nod to the commercial that made her a pop-culture fixture in 1992.

His death comes a day after Chad Gilbert of New Found Glory died at 45, and four days after Duncan Sheik died at 56. Carrot Top, who was hospitalized last week, is awake and recovering. More from Celebrities.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use, the SAMHSA National Helpline is free and confidential at 1-800-662-4357. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: statement from the Gerber family, Sept. 20, 2026; Santa Monica Police Department; Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner case record; Santa Monica dispatch audio. NBC News (Adela Suliman, Minyvonne Burke, Lindsay Good and Tim Stelloh), for the check-in time; TMZ; Deadline; ABC7 Los Angeles. Photos and video: Presley Gerber on the Future and Mental Health and Presley Gerber’s First Tattoo Story (Studio 22 Podcast, 2023).