Only days after Presley Gerber’s sudden death at 27, two women who once shared important chapters of his life have publicly mourned him.
Charlotte D’Alessio, who dated the son of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber for roughly two years, shared intimate photographs and videos from their relationship along with an emotional message about the “pure love” they once shared. Lexi Wood, another former girlfriend, separately remembered the years of friendship beneath their romantic relationship and said Presley had “fought so hard for his life.” (EW.com)
The tributes arrived as Presley’s family continues to grieve and authorities investigate the circumstances surrounding his September 20 death. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has completed an autopsy, but an official cause and manner of death remain pending additional testing. Santa Monica police have said the death is being investigated as a suspected overdose, with no indication of foul play reported. (EW.com)
And amid all the unanswered questions, one of D’Alessio’s final lines was strikingly simple:
“We all love you so much. I hope you can feel it.” (EW.com)
Presley Died on September 20
Presley was the eldest child and only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, and the older brother of model and actress Kaia Gerber.
According to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records, he died at a rehabilitation facility on Sunday, September 20. He was just 27. (People.com)
The Gerber family confirmed the devastating news through a representative and asked for privacy during what they described as a “very difficult and painful time.” (People.com)
The official cause of death has not yet been determined. Although police are investigating the death as a suspected overdose, the medical examiner has deferred a final determination pending additional tests. (EW.com)
That distinction matters as speculation surrounding Presley’s final hours continues to circulate online.
For the people who actually knew him, however, the immediate focus has been something different: the person they lost.
Charlotte D’Alessio Shared Memories From Their Years Together
D’Alessio’s tribute offered a glimpse of Presley from long before the final difficult chapter of his life.
The Canadian model and Presley were linked beginning in late 2017 and publicly marked their first anniversary in January 2019. At the time, their social-media exchanges showed two very young people deeply enamored with one another. (HOLA! USA)
Their relationship lasted roughly two years, from 2018 to 2020. (EW.com)
After learning of his death, D’Alessio went back into that archive of memories.
She posted photographs of the two together and a video showing Presley running outside with a small dog.
Her accompanying words made clear that whatever direction their lives took after their breakup, the relationship remained meaningful to her.
“Shared a pure love with you & for that I thank & honor your life,” she wrote. (EW.com)
Then came the part that captured the rawness of her grief.
“You deserved more time. You deserved more life,” she continued. (EW.com)
She said she was angry about his death.
She Wanted Presley Remembered as He Had Been
Perhaps the most revealing part of D’Alessio’s tribute wasn’t a glamorous photograph.
It was the video.
Presley could be seen running toward the water while a little dog followed him.
“I will always remember you this way,” she wrote over the memory. (EW.com)
It was an intensely personal contrast to the headlines now surrounding him.
During his life, Presley had become increasingly candid about his struggles with mental health and substance use. Those struggles are now inevitably part of reporting surrounding his death. (People.com)
D’Alessio’s video seemed to reach further back — toward the young man she remembered laughing, moving and living.
Her final message went even further.
“Love u Pres. Up there, down here. Don’t ever doubt that,” she wrote, before telling him how loved he remained. (EW.com)
Their Romance Began When They Were Very Young
Presley and D’Alessio were both models when they became a couple.
Reports from the time placed the beginning of their romance around late 2017, with the pair considering January 8, 2018 their official anniversary. (HOLA! USA)
Presley was still a teenager.
D’Alessio was in the early stages of her own modeling career.
Despite belonging to one of America’s most recognizable celebrity families, Presley sometimes used social media to share surprisingly ordinary moments from the relationship.
In August 2018, D’Alessio posted a black-and-white photograph of the two smiling at one another. Presley responded with a brief declaration that the moment represented happiness to him. (HOLA! USA)
By their first anniversary, he was publicly celebrating their relationship again.
Those posts have taken on an entirely different meaning now.
Years Later, Another Relationship Put Presley Back in the Headlines
In 2022, Presley became romantically involved with model and future Summer House personality Lexi Wood.
Their relationship was far more public from the beginning.
The pair appeared together at the Casamigos Halloween party in October 2022, where Wood was photographed kissing Presley on the cheek.
Presley soon made their relationship Instagram official and wrote enthusiastically about finding someone who made him extraordinarily happy.
The romance ultimately ended, but Wood’s tribute following his death revealed that their connection did not simply disappear when they stopped dating.
Lexi Wood Also Broke Her Silence
Wood posted her own remembrance on September 22.
Instead of focusing solely on their period as a couple, she described something that apparently lasted much longer: friendship.
“It’s hard to put into words what it means to lose someone who was such a meaningful part of my life for so many years,” Wood wrote. (E! Online)
She explained that their relationship changed over time, but said friendship remained at its center.
That detail paints a more complicated picture than a simple celebrity romance followed by a breakup.
They had been partners.
They became exes.
But according to Wood, Presley remained important to her.
She also addressed the battles he had been fighting.
Wood wrote that Presley “fought so hard for his life,” a particularly poignant statement given how publicly he had begun discussing his struggles before his death. (E! Online)
Presley Had Started Talking Openly About Mental Health
In the years before his death, Presley increasingly used his public platform to discuss mental health.
On the Studio 22 podcast, he explained that his own experiences with depression and other mental-health difficulties had made him want to help other people who felt similarly trapped. (People.com)
He said helping even one person get out of a place he himself had once occupied would be meaningful to him.
Mental health, Presley explained, wasn’t something he viewed as a passing topic.
He called it a “24/7 job.” (People.com)
In 2025, he launched a social-media series called “Mental Health Mondays,” intended to encourage conversations about subjects people often hide. Reuters reported that Presley described the goal as sparking genuine discussions about those experiences. (Reuters)
It was a strikingly vulnerable direction for someone who had spent much of his life surrounded by the carefully controlled imagery of the fashion world.
He Had Grown Up Inside One of Fashion’s Most Famous Families
Presley’s life had been public almost from birth.
Cindy Crawford was already one of the defining supermodels of her generation when he was born in 1999.
His father, Rande Gerber, built a successful business career.
Then Presley’s younger sister, Kaia, followed their mother into modeling and acting.
Presley did the same.
He began modeling as a teenager and eventually worked for major fashion houses and brands, including Calvin Klein and Dolce & Gabbana. (Reuters)
In 2018, there was an especially symbolic family moment when Presley appeared with his mother in a Pepsi commercial for the Super Bowl.
Crawford later recalled driving to work with her son and sharing a trailer with him, saying that she watched proudly from the sidelines while trying not to interfere. (CBS News)
Kaia Had Recently Spoken About Her Brother’s Struggles
Only weeks before Presley’s death, Kaia discussed what her brother’s experiences had meant for their family.
In an August 2026 Vogue interview, she spoke about the way addiction can affect an entire family and expressed pride in Presley for becoming more open about what he had been going through. The Los Angeles Times reported that Kaia contrasted Presley’s candor with the intensely private way their parents had traditionally handled family matters. (Los Angeles Times)
Presley, she suggested, had chosen to be visibly human.
Less than two months later, the Gerber family was confronting his death.
Sources close to the family have since described Crawford and her relatives as devastated and in shock, while the family’s official public statement has remained deliberately brief. (People.com)
His Friends Remembered Something Different From the Headlines
D’Alessio and Wood weren’t alone in sharing memories.
Brooklyn Beckham called Presley “the kindest” in a social-media tribute and said he would be deeply missed. (EW.com)
Paris Hilton also remembered him publicly, describing him as a kind, sensitive and genuine person and recalling his gentle nature. (EW.com)
Those tributes share a common thread.
The public knew Presley through photographs, runways, famous parents and, eventually, headlines about his personal difficulties.
His friends are remembering the person underneath all of it.
The Investigation Is Still Ongoing
There has been considerable reporting about what may have happened in Presley’s final hours, but authorities have not yet announced a final cause of death.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner completed an autopsy after his death. Additional testing is required, and the official determination could take months. (People.com)
Santa Monica police are investigating the death as a suspected overdose and have said there are no signs of foul play. (ABC7 San Francisco)
Until the medical examiner completes that process, reports describing an overdose should therefore be understood as part of the investigation rather than a finalized medical conclusion.
One Sentence From Charlotte’s Tribute Is Hard to Forget
There is a temptation after a sudden celebrity death to reconstruct everything through the final days.
The last appearance.
The last photograph.
The final social-media post.
The unanswered questions.
D’Alessio’s tribute moved in the opposite direction.
She went back years.
Back to their relationship.
Back to private photographs.
Back to a young Presley running outside with a dog.
And she finished not with speculation about how his life ended, but with a message about how deeply he had been loved.
“We all love you so much,” she wrote. “I hope you can feel it.” (EW.com)
Presley Gerber was 27 years old when he died.
The investigation into his death will eventually produce more answers.
But for the people who loved him, the photographs being shared now tell another part of his story — one that existed long before the final headline.
For more on Presley Gerber’s life and the hopes that kept him going, check out Presley Gerber Said One Hope Was “Getting Me Out of Bed” During His Darkest Years – He Lived Long Enough to Turn That Idea Into Something Real. And if you’re curious about other stars, read about Christina Aguilera, 45, Looks Dramatically Different From Her Early-2000s Self – but It Was Her Extra-Long Fingers That Had Fans Doing a Double Take or how Wentworth Miller Became One of TV’s Biggest Heartthrobs – Then He Stepped Away, Came Out as Gay and Received a Diagnosis That Changed How He Saw His Entire Life.
