The passing of fashion model Jeremy Ruehlemann from accidental drug overdose at a friends Manhatt

On Saturday, January 21, American fashion model Jeremy Ruehlemann passed away due to an accidental drug overdose, following a prolonged addiction to prescription pills.

Jeremy’s father, Achim Ruehlemann, confirmed the cause of his son’s death in an interview with DailyMail.com, a day after the news of his passing was shared on social media.

Speaking from his home in Waldwick, New Jersey, on Tuesday, the grieving father disclosed that Jeremy had struggled with addiction to the painkiller Percocet and other prescription drugs, and had previously sought help from rehab.

“He did rehab and had tried to get off prescription medication,” the father stated, visibly fatigued from lack of sleep since his son’s death. “Obviously, he was not successful.”

Ruehlemann, aged 59, also expressed uncertainty about the exact circumstances, as they are awaiting the results of toxicology tests, but characterized the death as a tragic accident.

“There was no desire to end his life; this was accidental,” he emphasized. “Obviously, he had some issues with drug addiction, but he was very happy. He loved life. He was very vibrant, a wonderful soul, and a very giving guy.”

“You could see what people are saying about him on social media,” the grieving father continued, drawing attention to an Instagram post from fashion designer Christian Siriano, who considered Jeremy to be his muse.

“Siriano gave a very nice tribute,” said the father, who works in manufacturing cosmetics. “I don’t know if there’s anybody who could say anything negative about him. It’s just a tragedy.”

In a statement to DailyMail.com, the NYPD confirmed that Jeremy was found at his friend’s midtown Manhattan apartment after an unconscious male was reported at 9:50 am on Saturday. He was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in the bathroom and was pronounced dead at the scene. The cause of death is under investigation by the Medical Examiner’s Office.

The friend, visibly upset, described Jeremy as one of his best friends and stated, “Despite everything that happened, he was happy.”

A funeral service for Ruehlemann will be held on Saturday at Burnett & White Funeral Home in upstate Red Hook, New York, with the wake scheduled for Friday, his family announced.

His final Instagram post last week was a behind-the-scenes picture from a photo shoot with the Tommy Hilfiger brand, captioned, ‘BTS with Tommy.’

Jeremy had studied psychology at Rowan University in his native New Jersey but left before graduating in 2017 to pursue a career in modeling.

ncG1vNJzZmimlazAr7vWp6CgnaKerm%2B6xmiroZ1dpa60v8innmanlmKzor%2FHoqanZZ2ksaa4jKOcq52drnqzwcSho56lkaO7brLRqKRmmZOYtqWxza2YpWWUp8Koec6vnKucn6iybq3TZphmnqKesq%2Bw0makmqaYlsG1rc1mmKmZoqm6prrTaA%3D%3D