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Cindy Crawford, 60, Mourns Son, Presley Gerber, 27, as Family Asks for Privacy
Mental health professionals explain how parents can navigate the grief of losing an adult child
(From left) Presley Gerber, Kaia Gerber, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, seen here in 2026. The family has asked for privacy in the wake of Presley’s death at age 27.
Gilbert Flores/WWD via Getty Images
Key takeaways
- In a July birthday post, Cindy Crawford told Presley, “I’ll always see you as my little boy.”
- The cause of death has not been disclosed.
- Bereaved parents may seek assistance through grief counseling, support groups and connections with others who have also lost a child.
Cindy Crawford, 60, is mourning her son, Presley Gerber, who died Sept. 20 at age 27. Gerber died at a rehabilitation facility, according to Los Angeles County medical examiner records obtained by People. The cause of death has not been disclosed.
A representative for Crawford, husband Rande Gerber, 64, and daughter Kaia Gerber, 25, said via the outlet that “the family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.”
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Two months before her son’s death, Crawford marked his 27th birthday with childhood photos on Instagram. “I’m so proud of the man you’ve become, but I’ll always see you as my little boy! Love you,” she wrote.
More help at the national level
Grieving.com, an online grief support community
Griefshare.org, a nondenominational, nonprofit ministry
American Cancer Society, a nonprofit that supports those with cancer and their families
CancerCare, a national organization that supports those with cancer and their families
The Mended Hearts, Inc., a national, nonprofit cardiovascular health support organization
The Compassionate Friends, a national nonprofit that helps families who have lost a child
Soaring Spirits International, a nonprofit that connects widowed individuals
Presley Gerber, best known as a model, had increasingly used his public platform to talk about mental health. He posted a recurring series of “Mental Health Mondays” videos on Instagram. In November 2025, he told followers that when he “started Mental Health Mondays, the goal was to spark real conversations about the stuff most people hide. It’s been incredible seeing how far that message has spread and how many people it’s helped.”
For Crawford and Rande Gerber, the death of their adult son places them among parents facing a loss that grief counselors say can upend assumptions about how family life is supposed to unfold.
Margaret Albert, a counselor with Duke Hospice Bereavement Services whom AARP interviewed about child loss, said the child’s age does not lessen a parent’s grief.
“It doesn’t matter the age of the child, it’s a very deep grief that you carry with you,” Albert told AARP. She said the death of a child can feel contrary to the natural order of life and is tied to the hopes parents had for that child.
AARP has previously written about living through the death of an adult child. Joel Goldstein was 73 when his 37-year-old son, Bart Groudine-Goldstein, died in 2022. Goldstein described the early aftermath as a period when his thoughts repeatedly returned to what had happened.
“The first couple of weeks after a loss like that, your mind keeps replaying the tape,” Goldstein told AARP. He said the loss was not something a parent completely works through, but that he and his wife, Dayle Groudine, kept taking small steps forward.
Larry Carlat also knows the grief of losing an adult child.
Carlat, a grief coach and group leader for bereaved parents at Our House Grief Support Center in Los Angeles, lost his 28-year-old son, Rob, six years before writing about the experience for AARP in 2025.
Carlat wrote that grieving with other parents, writing about his son and eventually becoming a grief-group leader helped him live with the loss.
“Your grief deserves your compassion,” Carlat wrote. “Your heart is broken, but there’s room in there to love yourself.”
For grieving parents seeking connection, AARP has also reported on grief support groups and organizations that specialize in bereavement. AARP’s reporting says groups organized around a particular loss, such as the death of a child, can be especially helpful because participants are more likely to share similar experiences.
“It’s important to look for grief support that will not necessarily make you feel better, but makes you feel understood,” Mary Lamia, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Marin County, California, told AARP. “It’s not about getting over it, but continuing to live with it. Then it’s a good support group.”
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