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Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner's Daughter Romy Shared Glimpse at Their Final Weeks
Jane Fonda has been rocked by the untimely deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner.
In fact, the two-time Oscar winner said she met with the longtime couple just one day before they were found dead at their Los Angeles home on Dec. 14.
"I saw them night before last looking healthy and happy," Jane wrote on Instagram Dec. 15. "I am reeling with grief. Stunned."
Remembering the pair's shared passion for activism, the 87-year-old added, "Rob and Michele Reiner were wonderful, caring, smart, funny, generous people, always coming up with ideas for how to make the world better, kinder."
The Reiners had attended a star-studded Christmas party hosted by Conan O’Brien on Dec. 13, sources confirmed to multiple outlets.
The following day, police responded to the Reiners' residence in the Brentwood neighborhood around 3:40 p.m., according to a press release from the Los Angeles Police Department. Upon arrival, officers "discovered two victims, who were subsequently identified as Robert and Michele Reiner."
"As a result of the initial investigation, it was determined that the Reiners were the victims of homicide," authorities said in an LAPD press release. "The investigation further revealed that Nick Reiner, the 32-year-old son of Robert and Michele Reiner, was responsible for their deaths."
Rob, 78, and Michele, 70, appeared to have suffered stab wounds, a source told NBC News.
Michael Tullberg/Getty Images; Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for DIFF
Nick was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder, according to the LAPD. Though his online jail records initially showed bail was set at $4 million, authorities have since confirmed that the screenwriter is being held without bond.
E! News has reached out to Rob and Michele's other kids Jake Reiner, 34, and Romy Reiner, 27, for comment on Nick's arrest but hasn't heard back. However, the family said in a statement to Variety shortly following Rob and Michele's passing, "We are heartbroken by this sudden loss."
Romy Reiner/Instagram
Tracy Reiner, who Rob shared with late ex-wife Penny Marshall, also expressed her shock in the wake of the tragedy, telling NBC News that she had also seen her father one day before he was found murdered.
“I came from the greatest family ever,” she told NBC News in a Dec. 14 statement. “I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”
For more on the police investigation into Rob and Michele's deaths, read on.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Adela Loconte/WireImage
Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner's Son Nick Reiner Details Struggle With Drugs
Years before Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner’s tragic deaths, their son Nick Reiner shared that he struggled with addiction, even collaborating with his father on the 2015 film Being Charlie about substance abuse.
Nick explained that he had been to rehab 17 times before turning 30.
“I was homeless in Maine. I was homeless in New Jersey. I was homeless in Texas,” he told People in 2016. “I spent nights on the street. I spent weeks on the street. It was not fun.”
Two years later, Nick recalled an instance when he “wrecked” his home while high on drugs.
“I went 10 rounds in my guest house,” he shared on the Dopey podcast in 2018. “I got totally spun out on uppers—I think it was coke and something else—and I was up for days on end. I started punching out some things in my guest house.”
Laura Cavanaugh/FilmMagic
Rob Reiner and Nick Reiner Fight at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas Party on Night Before Couple Is Found Dead
The When Harry Met Sally director and his 32-year-old son got into a heated argument at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party on Dec. 13, multiple sources at the event told People. Family friends also confirmed to the L.A. Times that Rob and Nick fought at the holiday celebration, saying that guests noticed Nick acting strangely.
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Rob Reiner and Wife Michele Singer Reiner Are Found Dead in Their Brentwood, Calif., Home
The day after the Christmas party, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of a death investigation at a home in Brentwood, Calif., at about 3:40 p.m. on Dec. 14.
“Once inside the residence, officers discovered two victims,” the LAPD said in a press release, “who were subsequently identified as Robert and Michele Reiner.”
The Robbery Homicide Division, Homicide Special Section (RHD/HSS) started an investigation into the circumstances of their deaths.
Deputy Police Chief Alan Hamilton told reporters that many family members would be interviewed, per NBC News. In addition to Nick, the couple are parents to daughter Romy Reiner and son Jake Reiner, and Rob also adopted late ex-wife Penny Marshall's daughter Tracy Reiner.
Rodin Eckenroth/WireImage
The Reiners’ Manner of Death Revealed as Homicide
Rob and Michele did not die of natural causes, with a source close to the Reiner family telling NBC News that the couple appeared to have died from stab wounds.
“As a result of the initial investigation,” the LAPD said in a press release, “it was determined that the Reiners were the victims of homicide.”
Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Nick Reiner Is Arrested on Suspicion of Murder
The LAPD said their investigation determined that Rob and Michele's son Nick was "responsible for their deaths.” The screenwriter wasn’t taken into custody until hours after his parents' bodies were found.
“Nick Reiner was located and arrested at approximately 9:15 p.m.,” police said in a press release, adding as of Dec. 15, “He was booked for murder and remains in custody with no bail.”
E! News was not able to find a lawyer on file to speak on Nick Reiner's behalf.
Amanda Edwards/WireImag & Ralph Dominquez / MediaPunch via Getty Images
Rob Reiner’s Daughter Tracy Reiner Reacts to His Death
After Rob's death, Tracy said she’d seen her father the day before his passing.
“I came from the greatest family ever,” she told NBC News. “I don’t know what to say. I’m in shock.”
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