Almost two years ago, 52-year-old Steven Grygelko, also known as Heklina — co-owner of Oasis and renowned drag artist — was found dead in a rented residential London property by a dear friend where Grygelko had been staying during a two-week run of Mommie Queerest, a stage parody of Mommie Dearest.
The sudden passing of Heklina on April 3rd, 2023 took the queer community by storm. A collective ache was felt in San Francisco and elsewhere across the county and world after her passing. Vigils were held. Block parties were thrown. More than one drink was poured in her honor.
Speculations, however, soon began swirling around the nature of her death, as details stayed sparse and unclear. A post-mortem conducted by police later in 2023 revealed that foul play was not suspected in Heklina’s death; longtime friend and collaborate Peaches Christ, who was traveling with Heklina at the time found her deceased in her hotel room after not returning messages and calls, posted on Facebook at the time that authorities hadn’t determined a cause of death.
While no evidence still suggests that foul play or misconduct allegedly occurred, London police have recently released a series of photos and videos showing three men leaving the Soho property where Heklina stayed and was later discovered deceased.
“On the morning of Sunday, 3 April 2023, police were called by the London Ambulance Service to a residential property in Soho Square following reports of a man found unresponsive,” a public bulletin release from the London police stated today. “The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was later identified as 55-year-old Steven [sic] Grygelko.”
As published by Metro, Detective Chief Inspector Dean Purvis, from the Central West Command Unit in London, wrote the following:
“Our thoughts are with Steven’s family and friends who still have a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to him. We know the three men in the CCTV images were at the flat in the early hours of 3 April 2023. I am asking them to contact the police. We need to establish what happened, and how Steven was when they left.”
“If you [recognize] any of the men, I would encourage you to let us know who they are,” Purves continues.
Those close to Heklina and the queer community have expressed frustration with how the London police have handled her death; Peaches Christ wrote she remains” just furious with the way the London police have handled all of this and I’m convinced it’s due to bias”; she and others hope the release of this media from London police regarding these three wanted men will help offer both semblances of closers and details into her tragic passing.
// Anyone with relevant information regarding the identity of these three men is asked to call “101 and cite the CAD number “1824/03Apr23” met.police.uk has full-sized photos available for viewing, which are available under the same CAD number.
Feature image: Courtesy of FilmMagic via Clusterfest
