Cindy Crawford said on Sunday that her family is "beyond heartbroken" over the death of her 27-year-old son Presley Gerber, her first public statement on it.
Zoom in: Crawford posted a black-and-white photo of her son on Instagram and wrote that "he is a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever," adding that the family is "so proud of how he showed up in the world, with kindness and vulnerability."
- Gerber died on September 20 at a rehab facility in California. Police said officials are treating it as a suspected overdose.
By the numbers: The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner lists the case as pending additional investigation. The Santa Monica Police Department said there is no indication foul play was involved.
The backstory: Gerber modelled like his mother and his younger sister Kaia, walking for the Italian label Moschino at 16. His father Rande Gerber co-founded the Casamigos tequila brand with George Clooney.
- In recent years Gerber spoke openly about his mental health and drug use, posting videos to Instagram for a series he called "Mental Health Mondays."
What they're saying: Kaia Gerber published a four-page letter to "prez" on Sunday. "I am learning how to love you when I cannot see you," she wrote. "How to be your sister in a world that I can't reach for you in."
Why it matters: A family that built its public life on image spent Sunday describing an overdose in plain terms, which is the shift in how overdose deaths get talked about at a moment when they remain a leading killer of Americans under 45.
