Justice for Heklina: Peaches Christ speaks up — no updates for 2 years

What did the London police tell Peaches Christ in the days that followed Heklina's death?

"When I was still in London, detectives met with me multiple times," Peaches tells Out. "Even after I was cleared as a suspect, I had to stick around three more days in order [to obtain] all of my belongings in the apartment."

The San Francisco queen goes on, "At one of these meetings, I was assured that I would be kept in the loop regarding the investigation, and I was even appointed a family liaison who I met with. However, once I arrived back in the U.S., communication ceased to exist."

Did the police offer any theories or suspicions about what might have happened?

"They really didn't, but they kept making it clear to me that 'drugs were found,'" Peaches recalls. "I asked which drugs [were found]? And were there lethal amounts? Do you have a fentanyl problem here? But I wasn't getting any clear answers."

Peaches continues, "They [the police] never seemed convinced of my conviction that Heklina wasn't alone when she passed. They questioned how I'd know that. I would point out all the evidence and explain that they needed to get into her phone in order to find out who had been at our flat. I even sent them an Apple hack to get into the phone, which they said they would use."

"After many months, they sent Heklina's phone back to Nancy French [Heklina's 'next of kin'] and we assumed they'd gotten what they needed," Peaches explains. "Months after that, they told us they never opened it. What the actual f*ck?!"

Did the London police provide you with contact information to reach out? How often did you and/or Nancy reach out?

Peaches replies, "Yes, and we were reaching out for many months, up to a year, with little to no response. It wasn't until I told them I was coming back to London — for my show at the Royal Albert Hall — that I heard rumors from a trusted source that the coroner determined the death wasn't caused by a drug overdose."

"At that point, they responded and requested a Zoom call with Nancy, Detective Dean Purvis, and I," Peaches adds. "This is when he admitted that had been negligent in doing anything related to the case. We were aghast."

Were there other updates about Heklina's death investigation between April 2023 and January 2025?

Peaches recalls a video conference meeting in which "Detective Purvis apologized and said that he believed detectives may have brought a 'bias' to the case. [However,] he insisted they'd be better about communicating with us as they attempted to pursue the case in earnest. But we quickly learned that this wasn't true, as emails once again went unanswered for months at a time."

Are you comfortable disclosing your theories about the events that might've led to Heklina's death?

"My theory has always been that for sure she was not alone when she needed help," Peaches says. "The detectives kept telling me that they found drugs. In retrospect, I feel like they were leading me to believe that it was an overdose. While I knew that was possible, I wanted to wait for the autopsy to confirm that she died from a lethal amount of drugs in her system."

"We never got an autopsy! After months of waiting, someone anonymously contacted me to say they knew for sure the cause of death was suffocation and that the detectives were lying to me," Peaches reveals. "This completely freaked me out, of course, so I brought it to the detectives. Detective Dean Purvis had a Zoom meeting with Nancy and I and denied everything this person had told us was true."

And yet, Peaches underscores that "The detective was very interested in finding out who this source was, and confirmed that the case really didn't have any action behind it, and that it was most likely because of this 'bias' he'd become aware of."

If you feel comfortable sharing, was Heklina' body transferred to the U.S.? Is it still in the U.K.?

Heklina was cremated in London. And, while there was an autopsy, we've never been told or given the results that would include cause of death.

When and where did Heklina die?

Peaches announced Heklina's sudden death on April 3, 2023, explaining that her friend and drag peer was found on the floor of their hotel guest room. The two San Francisco drag icons had been touring together across Europe and were also sharing the same flat in Soho at the time.

Tony Bravo wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, "Heklina and Peaches Christ were sharing the rented flat in the Soho area while rehearsing. When Heklina decided to arrange a sexual encounter, Peaches Christ said she opted to stay in a nearby hotel Saturday and Sunday to give her friend privacy."

The drag community mourned the loss of Heklina after discovering that she had died.

Heklina's sudden death was announced on April 3, 2023 by Peaches, as the two queens had been on tour together. Upon entering Heklina's guest room in the hotel, Peaches found her friend and creative collaborator dead on the floor.

The drag community mourned the loss of Heklina, with many queens asking fans to respect the mourning of those who had just lost a loved one.

Peaches Christ keeps pressuring the London police to make progress in the investigation about Heklina's death.

Peaches Christ has been actively speaking with the press as we reach the literal two-year anniversary of Heklina's death, and no one has received any explanation about what happened or even a minor update on the case.

Namely, Peaches went on The Bay Area's KRON4 News and subsequently wrote in an Instagram post:

"Continuing to get the word out about the lack of answers surrounding the death of Heklina. Lots of people have been asking me about what can be done, and I've been encouraging folks to reach out to American and British politicians and representatives for help pushing Scotland Yard for answers. If we don't get more resolution or anything that looks like justice for Heklina, I'm thinking that we should stage a big queer protest in London soon."