What Happened to Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner? What We Know

Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were killed in their Los Angeles home on Sunday, Dec. 14.

The Emmy-award-winning director was found by his daughter, Romy, who later learned that her mother had also been killed. The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed that they were called to the Reiner home around 3:30 p.m. to provide medical aid, but the victims were found dead at the scene.

Shortly after the devastating news surfaced, PEOPLE reported that their son Nick was being questioned in connection with his parents’ suspected homicide. Nick was later taken into custody and was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special allegation of using a knife. He briefly appeared in court on Dec. 17, but his arraignment has been moved to January 2026.

Rob and Michele’s family shared a statement expressing their sadness and addressing their “tragic” deaths, and several celebrities have also shared their heartbreak. Billy Crystal and Larry David visited their late friend’s home shortly after the news surfaced, a source confirmed to PEOPLE.

In addition to Romy and Nick, Rob and Michele, who had been married since 1989, were also parents to son Jake and daughter Tracy, whom Rob adopted during his first marriage to Penny Marshall. Romy and Jake later released their own statement grieving the loss of their “best friends.”

“Words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day,” the siblings said. “The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience. They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends.”

Here’s everything we know so far about Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s deaths and the investigation.

Rob and Michele were killed in their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14

Rob and his wife, Michele, were killed in their home in Brentwood, Calif., on Dec. 14. The Reiner family later shared a statement addressing their “tragic passing.”

“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the tragic passing of Michele and Rob Reiner. We are heartbroken by this sudden loss, and we ask for privacy during this unbelievably difficult time,” their family said in a statement shared with Variety on Dec. 14.

Their daughter Romy found Rob, and paramedics were called around 3:30 p.m.

Romy was the first to arrive at the scene of the crime and reportedly found the deceased body of her father inside their home, according to a report in The New York Times.

Romy was allegedly called to the house after a massage therapist couldn’t access the property. After she discovered her father, she allegedly “fled” and was later told by a paramedic that Michele had also died.

Shortly after, Romy’s stepsister, Tracy, said she was in “shock.”

“I came from the greatest family ever,” she told NBC News on Dec. 15. “I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”

Rob adopted Tracy while he was married to his first wife, the late Penny Marshall, from 1971 to 1981. Despite their divorce, Rob and Marshall remained friends, and he maintained a close relationship with Tracy.

The couple’s son Nick was arrested in connection with his parents’ homicide

After paramedics arrived to the Reiner home, they began to investigate the deaths as apparent homicides. Several sources close to the Reiner family later told PEOPLE that Rob and Michele’s son Nick was being investigated in connection with the deaths.

In the past, Nick had been open about his past struggles with addiction. In 2016, he spoke to PEOPLE about his cycles of drug abuse and getting treatment at various rehab facilities beginning when he was 15 years old.

“If I wanted to do it my way and not go to the programs [my parents] were suggesting, then I had to be homeless,” he claimed.

Nick reportedly went to rehab over 18 times and also experienced stints of homelessness. Years later, Rob said he regretted how he and Michele first treated Nick’s struggles with addiction.

Rob and Nick later worked together on the semi-autobiographical film Being Charlie, which followed an 18-year-old addict as he and his parents struggled with how to treat his addiction.

“That made me who I am now, having to deal with that stuff,” Nick continued. “Now, I’ve been home for a really long time, and I’ve sort of gotten acclimated back to being in Los Angeles and being around my family. But there was a lot of dark years there.”

Rob added in a 2015 interview with BUILD Series, “If your kid is going through rough times, [as] the parent, your main job is to keep your child safe. So I would do anything. At the end of the day, I know my child better than an expert does and I probably should have trusted my own instinct and that’s one of the things I did learn about the whole experience.”

After Nick was charged in connection with the killing of his parents, a source told PEOPLE that the couple “tried everything” to help Nick treat his addiction, while a second source added that Nick felt “entitled” to a certain life.

“They were such a tight-knit family. They did everything together,” the first source shared. “They could never reach stability with Nick. They tried everything — giving him space, keeping him close — but his struggles are so deep. It’s just a parent’s worst nightmare.”

The second insider shared with PEOPLE, “Nick wanted to live a life that didn’t exist. He was entitled. He didn’t want to do any work but expected to be loved the way the rest of his family was.”

Nick and Rob reportedly got into a “big fight” the night before Rob and Michele’s bodies were found

On Dec. 13, Rob and his family attended Conan O’Brien’s holiday party. After the tragic events the next day, two sources told PEOPLE that the father and son had gotten into a “big fight” at the party.

Before their verbal disagreement, a source alleged that “Nick was freaking everyone out, acting crazy, kept asking people if they were famous.”

Another source later commented on Nick’s struggles and said that he was “self-destructive in many ways … but not violent.”

“If they thought he was violent, things would have been very different,” they said. “At the worst of it, it hadn’t been like this. I don’t think anyone could have ever seen anything like this coming. Nick was declining lately but he had been really bad before.”

Nick was charged in connection with his parents’ deaths and briefly appeared in court

Hours after the paramedics were called to the Reiner house, Nick was arrested near the University of Southern California campus. He was later charged with two counts of first-degree murder with a special allegation of using a knife.

Nick wore a suicide prevention smock when he quickly appeared in court on Dec. 17, but his arraignment has been extended to Jan. 7. He is currently behind bars on no bail.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said that if convicted, Nick could face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or even the death penalty.

In the hours after Nick was arrested, prominent criminal defense attorney Alan Jackson was hired to represent him. In addition to addressing the “devastating tragedy” of the Reiners’ deaths, Jackson also asked that the public “allow the system to move forward in the way that it was designed to move forward.”

“There are very, very complex and serious issues that are associated with this case,” he said. “Those need to be thoroughly, but very carefully, dealt with and examined and looked at and analyzed.”