Brain Injury Lawyer Blog

Date: 1/5/2009

By CHRIS GILLETTE
Associated Press Writer

FREEPORT, Bahamas (AP) — Doctors in the Bahamas conducted an autopsy Monday on John Travolta’s 16-year-old son, but authorities did not immediately disclose the results.

Bahamian Minister of Health Hubert Minnis said the autopsy was finished but declined to comment on what may have caused the death of Jett Travolta, who had a history of seizures and was found unconscious in a bathroom Friday at a family vacation home.

Jett’s body was expected to be transferred soon to Grand Bahama’s Restview Memorial Mortuary, said Glen Campbell, an assistant funeral director.

The family plans to send his remains by Wednesday to Ocala, Florida, where the actor owns a home, said Obie Wilchcombe, a family friend and member of the Bahamian parliament.

Travolta tried CPR to revive his son, and Jett may have died in his arms before an emergency medical technician took over, Usmagazine.com reported, citing McDermott and another attorney for Travolta, Michael Ossi.

“We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives,” Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, said Sunday in their first public statement since Jett’s death.

Travolta, 54, and Preston, 46, have said that Jett became very sick when he was 2 years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki Syndrome, an illness that leads to inflamed blood vessels in young children. Preston has blamed household cleaners and fertilizers and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine.

A police statement said that Jett had not been seen since Thursday when a caretaker, Jeff Kathrain, found him unconscious late Friday morning.

But Michael McDermott, an attorney for the actor, said police wrongly left the impression that Jett was unsupervised. He said two nannies were with Jett throughout the evening, and he does not believe the teen was in the bathroom for a long time.

About a dozen security guards and Bahamian police officers patrolled around the luxury Old Bahama Bay resort community Sunday where Travolta and Preston remained inside their home. The white-sand beach in front of the suites was closed.

The couple also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.

Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham sent condolences to the Travolta family and said the autopsy is a formality the country requires in cases of sudden death to rule out foul play.

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Associated Press writers Vanessa Rolle in Freeport and Juan McCartney in Nassau, Bahamas contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.