unimaginable loss

Cindy Crawford’s heartbreaking words about losing a child resurface after son Presley’s death at 27

Cindy explained that motherhood had fundamentally changed the way she understood the loss.

SEPTEMBER 23, 2026 1:35 PM EDTSEP 23, 2026, 1:35 PM EDT

Years before the devastating death of her son Presley Gerber, Cindy Crawford spoke candidly about a tragedy that shaped her childhood, the death of her younger brother, Jeffrey.

Cindy reflected on her mother's unimaginable loss:

In a 2010 interview with The Mirror, Cindy spoke about her mother, Jennifer Sue Crawford-Moluf, and the hardships she endured while Cindy was growing up.

“Growing up, I sometimes felt she should have been angry or outraged, and she wasn't,” Cindy said. “She had a son that died. My dad had an affair and they divorced.”

Cindy Crawford shares Presley and daughter Kaia Gerber with husband Rande Gerber. — Becoming a mother herself gave Cindy a new perspective on the devastating loss her mother had experienced.

Despite those painful experiences, Cindy said they “didn't take away from her light as a person.” Becoming a parent herself eventually gave Cindy a different perspective on what her mother had endured.

“Now I'm a mom myself I've really come to appreciate her outlook on life,” she said at the time. “I can't imagine the pain of losing a child.” Jeffrey was only a young child when he died after being diagnosed with leukemia.

Presley Gerber followed in his mother Cindy Crawford’s footsteps, pursuing a career in modeling from a young age. — Cindy said motherhood made the idea of losing a child feel “actually unimaginable.”

Becoming a mother changed her understanding of grief:

Cindy returned to the subject during a 2024 conversation about motherhood and her childhood, revealing that the birth of her first child made her mother's experience even more difficult to comprehend.

“Obviously losing a child and as a mother, it's the worst thing that you could think of,” Cindy said.

Presley had spoken candidly in recent years about his experiences with mental health and addiction. — Cindy previously revealed that she called her mother after becoming a parent and asked, “How did you survive?”

She recalled calling her mother just days after becoming a parent herself. “I remember actually when I had my first child, I called my mother two days later and I was like, how did you survive?” she said.

Cindy explained that motherhood had fundamentally changed the way she understood the loss. “You can imagine what losing a child is before you're a mother, but then once you're a mother, it's actually unimaginable,” she said.

Kaia and Presley both followed their mother Cindy Crawford into the modeling world as teenagers.

She went on to describe the experience as “devastating for a family,” while remembering how her mother's faith helped the family navigate Jeffrey's illness and death.

Cindy said her mother allowed herself to grieve, attended courses dealing with death and dying and leaned on her faith and church community.

The tragedy also left Cindy with survivor's guilt:

Cindy has been open about the impact Jeffrey's death had on her and her sisters when they were children.

Cindy Crawford and Presley Gerber attend the Haute Living Celebration at Casa Tua on November 03, 2024 in Miami Beach, Florida. — Cindy once reflected on watching her own mother cope with the death of her young son, Jeffrey

During a 2024 appearance on the “Kelly Corrigan Wonders: About Your Mother” podcast, she revealed that she experienced what she described as “survivor guilt.”

“My dad wanted a boy, so the fourth was the boy and I think that there was a lot of guilt,” she said. Cindy explained that she and her sisters knew how much their father had wanted a son.

Cindy revealed that she and her sisters experienced survivor's guilt following their brother Jeffrey's death.

“We felt like, ‘Well it should've been one of us,’” she recalled. Those feelings stayed with the sisters for years. “My sisters and I would all have these same nightmares, that it should've been one of us,” Cindy said.

It wasn't until much later, while doing personal work during the COVID-19 pandemic, that Cindy began examining what she had needed to hear as a child.

The siblings grew up together in Malibu as the children of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. — Cindy and Rande's family has asked for privacy as they mourn Presley's death.

She realized she had wanted reassurance that although her family was devastated by Jeffrey's death, they were also grateful that she was still there.

Cindy also recalled returning to school after losing her brother and finding that her classmates largely avoided talking about what had happened.

Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber share two children, Presley and Kaia, who remained close into adulthood. — The loss of Jeffrey shaped Cindy's understanding of grief long before she became a mother herself.

The experience shaped how she later approached conversations about death with her own children, Presley and Kaia Gerber.

“We don't talk about death in our culture, and we don't talk about what you say to someone when they lose someone,” she said during the podcast.

Cindy and her family are now mourning Presley:

Presley, Cindy and husband Rande Gerber's eldest child and only son, died on September 20 at the age of 27.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, Presley died at a rehabilitation facility in Santa Monica. The Santa Monica Police Department has said detectives are investigating the death as a suspected overdose and that there are currently no indications of foul play.

Presley Gerber, Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber — The Crawford-Gerber family remained close as Presley and Kaia followed their mother into the modeling industry.

His official cause and manner of death have not been determined. An examination has been completed, but the medical examiner deferred its findings while additional testing is conducted.

“The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time,” a representative for Cindy, Rande and their daughter Kaia said following Presley's death.

Cindy's past comments about her mother were never about the loss she would later experience herself. But they offer a deeply personal glimpse into how she had understood the grief of losing a child long before her family was confronted with Presley's death.