Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber and their daughter Kaia have spoken publicly for the first time since Presley Gerber died aged 27.
In a statement shared on social media, the family said they were “beyond heartbroken” by the loss of their son and brother.
“We feel so blessed to have had Presley in our lives for 27 years. He is a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever,” they said.
The statement added: “We are so proud of how he showed up in the world, with kindness and vulnerability. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many who know and love our family and even strangers who feel our pain.”
Presley Gerber died on September 20 at a rehabilitation facility in Santa Monica. The cause of death remains deferred, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website, while Santa Monica police have said his death was a suspected overdose.
Gerber had been open on social media about his struggles with addiction and mental health. No members of his family had publicly addressed his death until Sunday, when his parents posted the same message on their Instagram accounts.
Kaia Gerber, an actor and model, shared a separate tribute to her brother. “I love you the bluest, to the moon and back and back again, forever big brother,” she wrote.
She also described the difficulty of coping with his death and learning to live without being able to contact him.
“To say loving you was the easiest thing in the world would imply that it required any effort at all. I was born loving you. I will die loving you. There was never anything else,” she wrote.
“I am learning how to love you when I canot see you. How to tell you something without picking up my phone to call you. How to be your sister in a world that I can’t reach for you in.”
The family ended their statement with the words: “Til we meet again our sweet boy. We love you forever, Mom, Dad and Kaia.”
