Nearly two years after drag queen Heklina was found dead in a Soho flat in London, police there have issued a bulletin asking three men seen on camera footage leaving the flat to come forward. Police said the men may have information about what happened to Heklina on April 3, 2023.
Heklina, the drag persona of Stefan Grygelko, was in London with her friend and tour partner, Peaches Christ (Joshua Grannell), to perform their "Mommie Queerist" show. They were sharing the flat.
"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," the January 25 (London time) police bulletin states. "The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was later identified as 55-year-old Steven [sic] Grygelko."
A post mortem conducted by police back in 2023 indicated that foul play was not suspected in Heklina's death, as Peaches posted on Facebook at the time, as the Bay Area Reporter noted, but authorities have still not determined a cause of death. "No official cause of death has been released for the performer, originally from the U.S.," a January 24 article in Metro reported.
"Steven's [sic] death is being treated as unexpected and remains under investigation while officers continue to liaise with the coroner," the police stated.
Detective Chief Inspector Dean Purvis, from the Central West Command Unit, stated, "Our thoughts are with Steven's [sic] family and friends who still have a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to him.
"We know that the three men in the CCTV images were at the flat in the early hours of 3 April 2023," Purvis added."
"I am asking them to contact police. We need to establish what happened, and how Steven was when they left," Purvis stated. "If you recognize any of the men, I would encourage you to let us know who they are."
Peaches wrote on Facebook January 24 that she and Heklina's estate have been trying to get police to investigate. "To get the London Police to take more action has been something Nancy [French] and I have been pushing for since the tragedy began," Peaches wrote, referring to the estate's executor. "Why has it taken this long? There is so much more to this story that will have to be told."
In a statement to the B.A.R., Peaches said the lengthy investigation hints at bias on the part of the police.
"I'm just furious with the way the London police have handled all of this and I'm convinced it's due to bias," Peaches stated.
French was also critical of the London police in a message to the B.A.R.
"I am Heklina's 'next of kin' with the London Police but have never received a cause of death, autopsy report, or final death certificate," French stated. "This CCTV footage should have been released 21 months ago. Releasing it now just proves their ineptitude and mismanagement that we've been dealing with for almost two years."
Pioneering drag figure
Heklina was a pioneering figure in the San Francisco drag scene and an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ lives, according to a joint statement released shortly after her death by Peaches, Oasis co-owner and San Francisco drag laureate D'Arcy Drollinger, and Grygelko's estate.
She was the co-founder of the iconic and transgressive drag night Trannyshack, which became an important mainstay of the San Francisco nightlife scene in the 1990s and 2000s.
The statement added that Heklina's "work as a producer and performer included collaborations on stage and on film, with one of her best friends Peaches Christ. Heklina's accomplishments as a performer, producer, and transgressive LGBTQ+ rights advocate have left an indelible mark on drag, the entertainment industry, San Francisco, and the queer communities worldwide."
Heklina's sudden death nearly two years ago prompted an outpouring of support in the Bay Area and around the world. In her own statement she emailed to supporters of Oasis at the time of Heklina's death, Drollinger called Heklina's passing "a devastating blow to the community" that was personally heartbreaking.
Heklina had been a part owner of Oasis, the LGBTQ nightclub in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood.
"I have known Heklina for 34 years. Opening the Oasis was a crowning achievement we shared, after performing for so many years in other people's venues, to create our own space was a dream neither of us believed we could do and yet we did it together," wrote Drollinger at the time. "She's been my Carrie Bradshaw, my Janet Wood, my Darlene Conner, my Phoebe Buffay, and my Dorothy Zbornak. Heklina could push all my buttons and at times make me crazy and I still love her."
Drollinger added, "I was there the very first time she ever did drag, it wasn't a pretty sight. In my wildest dreams I wouldn't have expected her to become such an icon. And yet she did."
In 2015, along with Drollinger and other investors, Heklina opened Oasis in South of Market; the same building that once housed the original Oasis. The nightclub has become popular for not only drag shows and DJed dance nights, but comic plays and musicals, cabaret concerts and community fundraisers. Heklina later sold her share of Oasis ownership and moved to Palm Springs, while still keeping a foothold in the Bay Area's nightlife scene.
Anyone with information related to the London Police's release of the CCTV footage can go to the police department's website at met.police.uk. The CAD number is 1824/03Apr23.
Updated, 1/24/25: This article has been updated with comments from Peaches Christ and Nancy French.
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