Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber Blackmail Suspect Surrenders
LOS ANGELES — The man accused of trying to extort $100,000 from Cindy Crawford and her husband Rande Gerber has surrendered to authorities in Germany.
Edis Kayalar, 26, turned himself in by walking into a police station late Monday in Stuttgart, the Associated Press reports.
Kayalar was charged last week in Los Angeles with one count of extortion. If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison.
A U.S. attorney's spokesman told AP that the U.S. has not formally requested Kayalar's extradition. It remains unclear when that might occur.
Kayalar allegedly threatened to release a revealing photo of the couple's young daughter to the media. The purported photo shows the girl, then 7, gagged and bound to a chair wearing shorts and a T-shirt. The child told authorities that it was taken by a former nanny, who is an acquaintance of Kayalar, during a "cops and robbers" game.
The nanny was fired a week before Kayalar allegedly threatened the Gerbers for the first time in July. She has not been charged.
"Rande Gerber and Cindy Crawford intend to pursue any and all available legal action against anyone who aids the perpetrator in the distribution or sale of the photograph of their daughter," the couple's rep previously said in a statement.
Crawford, 43, and Gerber, 47, have been married since 1998. In addition to their daughter, who is now 8, they have a son, 10.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — Rande Gerber is furious after two of his popular nightclubs at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego were shut down over allegations of repeated abuse and violent conduct on the part of the clubs' staffs, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
