The evening of November 12, 2021, unfurled in Los Angeles like any other Friday night, but for Jan Cilliers, it marked the beginning of a nightmare that would shatter his world. His wife, Christy Giles, a vibrant 24-year-old high fashion model, was supposed to enjoy a night out with friends. Little did Jan know that ultimately, he would be left piecing together the tragic events that would lead to her untimely death.
- Christy Giles and Hilda Cabrales died tragically.
- Jan Cilliers acted as a grieving investigator.
- Pearce was linked to both women's deaths.
- Toxic substances included cocaine and GHB.
- Pearce found guilty of first-degree murder.
- Couple shared location for safety reasons.
While Jan spent the night in San Francisco visiting his father, Christy was in Los Angeles planning a girls’ night out with her close friend, 26-year-old Hilda Marcela Cabrales, an architect and interior designer. The couple kept a close connection through technology, sharing their locations on their iPhones as a precautionary measure. “We share our phone locations with each other just as a safety feature,” Jan would later explain, recalling his unease when early the following morning, his wife’s location pinged at an unfamiliar address on West Olympic Boulevard in West Los Angeles.
As the morning sun rose on November 13, Jan texted Christy to check in but received no response. Initially suspecting she had been out late with friends, a subtle anxiety began to creep in. Hours passed without communication. Panic set in when he saw her phone’s location suddenly change to a nearby emergency room. “At that point, like, I’m in real panic,” he admitted.
Jan’s dread was confirmed when hospital staff informed him that Christy had been abandoned at the facility by two masked men in a car without license plates. Tragically, she had been pronounced dead due to a drug overdose. “When you were told that the cause of death was an overdose, did that add up to you?” asked an investigator. “Absolutely not,” Jan responded emphatically. “That’s definitely not something that she would have done to herself ever.”
What unfolded that night remains shrouded in mystery, complicating Jan’s grief with a fierce desire to find answers. Christy had sent him videos of their cat, Loki, playing in the sand just the day before, showcasing a carefree happiness that now felt painfully distant.
Determined to uncover the truth, Jan dove into the investigation with the same dedication he had once shown as a loving husband. He quickly learned that both Christy and Hilda had shared phone locations, which pinpointed them at that ominous address in West Los Angeles. The unsettling feeling deepened when he discovered that Hilda, too, had been hospitalized several miles away, having suffered a similar fate.
Jan used social media to spread the word about the mysterious events, hoping that someone would recognize the name of the address where they were last seen. In response, tips began rolling in about a man named David Pearce, a self-proclaimed “Hollywood producer,” who was suspected to be linked to the circumstances surrounding the women’s deaths.
Given access to Christy’s laptop, Jan discovered alarming text exchanges between the two friends. One highlighted their plans to escape the location they had been taken to, illustrating a critical moment that hinted at their unwillingness to remain there. “We wanted to gather as much evidence as we could about exactly what happened,” Jan noted, piecing together their timeline that led them to a local warehouse party.
Surveillance footage showed Pearce leaving that party with Christy and Hilda shortly after 4 a.m. on the night of their last outing, confirming Jan’s worst fears. They were seen leaving with two men, one of whom, as investigators would later reveal, was the same person who had dropped off Christy at the hospital.
In the months that followed, toxicology reports revealed a chilling truth: both women had ingested a lethal mix of cocaine and fentanyl, with GHB—known for its notorious use in drugging—and other substances complicating the matter in Christy’s case. This information led to Pearce being charged with two counts of first-degree murder, alongside multiple accounts of sexual assault involving other women.
As the legal proceedings unfolded, Jan remained resolute, determined not just to honor Christy’s memory but to seek justice for the heinous acts he believed had robbed them of their future. By early February 2025, a jury found Pearce guilty of first-degree murder, ringing in a moment of bittersweet closure for Jan.
As the sun set over Marina del Rey, where Christy had once played with Loki, Jan’s journey reflected a deep love that transcended tragedy, a reminder of the profound relationship shared between two individuals caught in the web of unexpected consequences. The future remains uncertain as legal battles continue, but for Jan, every day serves as a testament to both Christy’s spirit and his unwavering pursuit of the truth—a pursuit that began on that fateful Friday night when a simple text message changed everything.
