Christy Giles: Police say model’s death is drug overdose as husband says masked men dumped body
As it happened
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
The husband of LA-based model and aspiring actress Christy Giles has paid tribute to her on Instagram after she was allegedly found outside a Los Angeles hospital at the weekend.
Giles, who died of a suspected drug overdose, was allegedly found dumped outside a Los Angeles hospital following a night out with friends. Her family blame a group of masked men.
A friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, was allegedly dumped at another hospital two hours later and remains in critical care.
Giles’s husband, Jan Cilliers, told his Instagram followers that he could not believe what had happened, and that she was “taken from us. From me. How can this world be so cruel. How can people be so evil.”
He continued by describing the 24-year-old as “the light of my sky. Guiding stars of my journey. The twinkle in my eye. The tongue in my ear”, and said: “My heart is shattered.”
Police have said that it appears Giles’s death was due to a possible overdose that turned fatal.
Hello and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of Christy Giles, who was found ‘lifeless’ and dumped outside an LA hospital at the weekend.
Other incidents may be connected say police
ICYMI: Police are exploring cases potentially linked to Christy Giles’, as other women report similar experiences.
LAPD said it is investigating Ms Giles’ passing as an ‘undetermined death’ and is looking into whether other incidents are connected reports NBC Los Angeles.
Ms Giles’ husband Jan Cilliers wrote on a Gofundme page for his late wife and her friend, that he had been contacted by “females who have eerily similar stories.”
Read more here:
Police exploring other cases potentially linked to Christy Giles case
Other women have reported ‘eerily similar stories’ says husband
Christy Giles found outside hospital, family say
Christy Giles, 24, died of a suspected drug overdose following a night out with friends in Los Angeles on Friday, which left another woman hospitalised in critical condition.
As Graeme Massie writes, her husband Jan Cilliers believes video footage shows her being left outside Southern California Hospital by a group of masked men.
Mr Cilliers told reporters that his wife and a friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, met a group of men on their night out and ended up at an apartment west of Los Angeles.
The women were not heard from until being found dumped outside two different hospitals.
Model Christy Giles dead after being dumped outside Los Angeles hospital
Christy Giles’ lifeless body left on street by group of disguised men, says husband
Drugs allegedly found in friend’s system
Jan Cilliers, the husband of Christy Giles, told reporters that heroin was found in the body of her friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, who remins in critical condition.
“Marcela’s toxicology report came back, and I guess they found heroin in her system, which is nothing that either of those girls would ever do, not voluntarily,” Mr Cilliers said to ABC7 News.
LA friends pay tribute, express shock
Pixie Bella, an Australian photographer based in LA, was among associates of Christy Giles to express her shock at the model’s death at the weekend.
She wrote in a tribute on Instagram: “I’m still lost for words for what happened to Christy Giles. I cannot believe this happened to you angel.”
“You will always be remembered as the vibrant beautiful human that you were. All my love to family and friends of Christy.”
Both women met a group of men at a party
Jan Cilliers, the husband of Christy Giles, has said that he was away in San Francisco at the weekend when the incident unfolded.
He added that his wife and a friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, were not the sort of people to “voluntarily” take drugs – amid speculation that they died of an overdose.
Mr Cilliers said the two women met a group of men at a party in the city before ending up at an apartment in west Los Angeles. It remains unclear if the same men were those seen dropping both women off.
A friend who went home early told ABC7 News that the women met the men at a party.
Thanks to iCloud, Mr Cilliers said he got hold off “all the messages that she exchanged with anybody else that night and she was texting Marcela, the girl that she was with, at 5.30am saying let’s get out of here with the wide eye emoji”.
Ms Giles did not check her messages after that, her husband alleged.
More than $92,000 raised on GoFundMe
More than $92,000 (£68,000) has been raised on a GoFundMe for Christy Giles’s husband, and “for private investigators, funeral and memorial costs.”
Jan Cilliers, her husband, wrote that “These funds are going towards the investigations of both Christy and Hilda’s cases”, following the dumping of both women outside LA hospitals on Saturday.
He added that “This story is by no means unique.”
“Since Saturday we’ve all received a number of messages from other females who have eerily similar stories, except the only difference between them & Christy and Hilda, is they survived.”
What have Los Angeles Police Department said?
While the Los Angeles Police Department has not released a statement regarding the death of Christy Giles, the department has told local news outlets that it is investigating.
Police are also reportedly looking into whether or not the incident is connected to other similar cases in Los Angeles, and that a preliminary investigation suggested Ms Giles died from a possible overdose which turned fatal.
Jan Cilliers, her husband, is calling for a fuller investigation into what happened.
Two women ‘never ended up making it’ to after party
Jan Cilliers, the husband of Christy Giles, told NBC Los Angeles that he believed his wife and a friend were headed to an after party but “never ended up making it there”.
“We assume that the way they the girls got in the car with them was that they were all going to go to the after party that everyone wanted to go to together,” Ms Cilliers said.
He added that he shared his phone location with his wife, who did the same. He was away in San Francisco at the weekend.
Mr Cilliers added of the men who were allegedly seen dumping his wife and a friend: “If they had been concerned for their health, they would have called 911 instead of waiting until their bodies were cold and dropping them off at two ERs, two hours apart”.