Los Angeles, California – What began as a regular Friday evening on November 12, 2021, turned into a nightmare for the families of Christy Giles, a 24-year-old model, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales, a 26-year-old architect and designer. Their deaths would eventually lead to a murder conviction and expose a chilling case involving drugging and sexual assault in Los Angeles.
A Normal Night Turns Into a Mystery
Jan Cilliers, Christy Giles’ husband, was in San Francisco visiting his father when he last spoke to her. She was walking with their cat, Loki, near their apartment in Marina del Rey and sent him a sweet video of Loki playing in the sand. It was a casual exchange, filled with love and routine.
Later that evening, Christy and her friend Hilda planned a girls’ night out. They started at Soho House in West Hollywood and later went to a warehouse party in East LA. Cilliers received a few texts from Christy before going to sleep early that night.
The next morning, he messaged her, but received no response. Using their shared phone location feature, he noticed Christy’s phone had been at an unknown address on West Olympic Boulevard—a location that raised concern.
Hours later, her location changed again—this time to Southern California Hospital in Culver City.
“That’s when I panicked,” Cilliers told CBS’s 48 Hours. “Something felt very wrong.”
Two Women, Two Hospitals, Hours Apart
Cilliers contacted Christy’s parents and friends. He learned that Hilda was also missing. Her location had pinged at the same unfamiliar address as Christy’s. A short time later, they discovered that Hilda had also been left at a hospital—Kaiser Permanente, just two miles away.
Both women had been dropped off by masked men in a car with no license plates, hours apart.
“All alarm bells were going off in our heads,” Cilliers said. “Something terrible happened that night.”
Christy was already dead when she arrived at the hospital. Hilda, critically unwell, would pass away days later from a suspected drug overdose.
A Husband Turns Investigator
Using location data, text messages, and social media, Cilliers began putting the pieces together. He logged into Christy’s laptop and found messages exchanged between her and Hilda showing that the women wanted to leave the party and call an Uber—but they never did.
He traced their last known location to a residence on West Olympic Boulevard. When he shared the address on Instagram, the post went viral.
People online identified the home’s resident: David Pearce, a self-described Hollywood producer with a concerning online reputation.
Connecting the Dots
Cilliers helped investigators uncover surveillance video showing Pearce and his friends leaving the warehouse party with Christy and Hilda at 4:51 a.m. They got into a car later linked to the same location where the women’s phones had pinged.
“We knew who was responsible,” said Cilliers. “Now we needed proof.”
The autopsies revealed both women had a toxic mix of drugs, including cocaine, fentanyl, and GHB, often known as the date rape drug. The presence of GHB was especially disturbing.
Legal Justice: David Pearce Found Guilty
The investigation led to David Pearce’s arrest. He was charged with:
- Two counts of first-degree murder (for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Cabrales)
- Seven counts of sexual assault, involving seven other women
On February 4, 2025, Pearce was found guilty of both murders and all seven sexual assault charges.
The case highlighted how digital footprints, determined loved ones, and public awareness can help bring justice, even in the most heartbreaking situations.
What started as a joyful night out for Christy Giles and Hilda Cabrales ended in tragedy. Their deaths sparked a wave of grief, anger, and determination—led by Jan Cilliers, who transformed from husband to investigator in a matter of hours.
Thanks to relentless effort, witness accounts, and digital evidence, justice was served. But the story serves as a painful reminder of how quickly trust can be broken—and how important it is to stand up for the truth, no matter how difficult.