Jennifer Syme's crash site

This is the location where Jennifer Syme died in a car crash.

It is situated in the 2100 block of Cahuenga Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

Syme was a personal assistant, actress, and record company executive.

In 1998, she began dating actor Keanu Reeves after they met at a party. By Christmas of 1999, they were expecting their first child—a daughter whom they planned on naming Ava Archer.

Tragically, the child was stillborn at 8 months.

The grief of losing their baby daughter, coupled with Syme's postnatal depression, put so much strain on their relationship that they broke up in early 2000.

Despite the breakup, they remained close friends and had reportedly brunched together the day before the accident.

On the night of April 1st, 2001, Syme attended a party at the house of rock star Marilyn Manson.

Early the next morning, she was sent home with a designated driver. However, for reasons unknown, she decided to jump into her black Jeep Cherokee and drive northward along Cahuenga Boulevard.

Although her parents alleged that she was attempting to return to Manson's party, this was never proven.

At exactly 6.15 a.m., Syme crashed into three parked cars at this section of Cahuenga Boulevard, just north of the Hollywood 101 Freeway. The 28-year-old, who was not wearing a seat belt, died instantly after she was partially thrown from the vehicle.

Her autopsy report showed that she had alcohol, painkillers, and cocaine in her system. The cause of death was a head injury that shattered her skull.

Later that day, as news about the crash began to spread, a heartbroken Keanu reportedly called the coroner's office to ask if "Jen Syme was there." When they confirmed that she was, he offered to identify the body. However, he was told that it wasn't necessary, as they had already identified her using her driver's license.

Reeves was a pallbearer at Syme's funeral, which was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. Afterwards, she was buried next to their daughter at the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park & Mortuary.

Photos

Photos of the street and other related images.

Crash site

This Google Street View image was taken in August 2022, more than twenty years after the accident occurred.

Keanu Reeves and Jen Syme are visible in the photograph in the top-left corner. At the time, she was pregnant with their unborn daughter, Ava Archer.

The image in the bottom left shows Reeves (front, left) carrying Syme's coffin at her funeral.

Photographs

At the time of the accident, Syme was driving north along Cahuenga Boulevard, about half a mile east of the Hollywood Bowl amphitheater.

After losing control of her vehicle, she struck a row of parked cars. At that point, her Jeep Cherokee overturned, and she was partially ejected.

Reeves called the coroner's office

Following the crash, Reeves called the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office and offered to identify Syme's body.

However, he was told that they had already done so using her driver's license.

Marilyn Manson

In 2002, Syme's mother, Maria St. John, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Marilyn Manson.

St. John's lawsuit claimed that Manson gave her daughter drugs and instructed her to drive back to his house.

However, the rock star denied these claims and said that he had asked a designated driver to take her home at around 5.50 a.m. She then got into her own vehicle for reasons unknown.

The case was eventually dismissed in 2003.

In 2021, several women accused Manson of sexual and physical abuse. This has rekindled people's interest in the circumstances surrounding the crash.