Travolta Family Returns With Son's Remains

(CBS/AP)  Actor John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston have returned to Florida with the remains of their 16-year-old son, Jett, who died at the family vacation home in Grand Bahama.

The couple received an urn with his ashes and left the island chain on Monday night, according to Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamas parliament and a family friend.

"Everything was in place, the cremation was completed, and they decided to leave," Wilchcombe told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said the family is back in Ocala, Florida, where they have a home.

For years, Jett Travolta suffered profound seizures. So what caused his death - according to the mortuary director - was not surprising:

"The cause of death was seizure disorder," said Keith McSweeney of Restview Memorial Mortuary and Crematorium.

But how did it happen - and, especially, why? For the close-knit Travoltas, there are no ready answers, certainly nothing an autopsy could explain.

John Travolta and Preston, have said Jett became very sick when he was two years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki Syndrome, an illness that leads to inflamed blood vessels in young children.

Preston blamed household cleaners and fertilizers for his illness and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health.

Jett was found unconscious in a bathroom on Friday at the family's vacation home on Grand Bahama Island.

At the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport Monday, a pair of forensic pathologists examined Jett's body for two hours. The autopsy revealed there were no signs of head trauma, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

The assistant director of the funeral home told The Associated Press that the body had minimal injuries despite police officials who had said the teen hit his head on a bathtub.

Authorities didn't release the results of an autopsy performed Monday, but the assistant director of the funeral home saw the body and the death certificate, which was based on its findings.

He added that the only cause of death listed was seizure.

Jett's remains were then cremated.

"Very difficult day, obviously," said Wilchombe. "It's been a very difficult time for the Travoltas ever since Friday. And it continues."

(AP Photo/Rogers & Cowan)

(An undated Travolta family photo, with son Jett and daughter Ella Blue.)

What may never be clear: how much time passed before someone found him unconscious on a bathroom floor in the family's home in this posh resort.

Appearing on CBS' The Early Show, leading forensic pathologist Cyril Wecht, M.D., J.D., characterized the findings as "really completely negative. The autopsy revealed no other cause of death such as a congenital heart condition or a stroke with hemorrhage into the brain.

"You cannot see evidence of a convulsion," Wecht said. "The convulsive seizure disorder disrupts the brain, literally shakes, seizes it, [and] the neural pathways from the brain that control the heart and lungs are disrupted. That leads to a cardiac dysrhythmia, and they go into cardiac arrest."

Wecht said that when someone suffers from that kind of disorder, intervention must be immediate. "You have to find out if someone is going into a convulsive seizure or act immediately upon visualizing it, to see to it that an airway is established, that oxygen is administered, and that the heart is kept going in an artifactual fashion until the brain's seizure activities have subsided.

"So that's the tragedy here. They found nothing, in other words, and they're going based upon the clinical history, I think it is a correct diagnosis."

Wecht thinks that the fall Jett was reported to have taken in the bathroom, hitting his head, did not contribute to his death.

Usmagazine.com reported that Travolta tried CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to revive his son, who may have died in his arms before an emergency medical technician took over. Us cited Travolta's attorneys Michael McDermott and Michael Ossi.

Wecht told The Early Show that microscopic study of tissues might be able to suggest whether or not Jett could have been saved if help had come sooner. "But I predict that that will never be disclosed. In other words, they will see how much fluid has built up in the lungs and how much congestion there is back into the spleen and liver. In determining that, they can try, then, to correlate the time situation.

"But grossly, they cannot tell too much. And this is the kind of a finding, I'm sure, that the family is not going to share with anybody."

In a public statement released on Sunday, John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston said they were "heartbroken that our time with him was so brief."

Jett's death hits hard on this island the Travoltas have called their vacation home for the last six years. Many locals consider them extended family.

So when the teen died, Wilchombe said, "We felt the pain. It's like we've lost a family member."

Late Monday, a black hearse traveled from the funeral home to the airport after the family indicated they were bringing Jett's remains to Ocala, Florida, where they own a home.

But the hearse was dispatched as a ruse, McSweeney told a news conference later Monday.

(AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Monday night, the Travoltas (including 8-year-old daughter Ella Blue) made one last trip, returning home to Ocala, Florida with Jett's ashes for the funeral.

On their private plane, the Travoltas had flown about sixty guests to the Bahama's West End for their annual New Year's island celebration.

Many of them will go back with the family to Florida, to end a trip in a way no one could have imagined: with a final goodbye to the son of their host.

[carebear641]

We have a daughter with seizures. We feared this same exact thing. The medicines were not "holding" her, only 5% of the time. Last Sept. She had surgery to remove the portion of her brain from where the seizures came from. Epilepsy and seizure disorders are rarily talked about as other medical conditions are. John has a perfect opportunity to bring seizure disorders into this century.

[jimmieanita]

Our deepest sympathy to the Travolta Family.... You are in our prayers.....

[cricketmk3]

I have struggled with the death of Jett Travolta. I have a son his age and it hit home with me bigtime. I have come to realize that Jett had a wonderful life with his family. Whether he was autistic or not he seemed to have some kind of disability but thoroughly enjoyed the things he did with his family such as flying and boating. He had the best family situation for his condition. I''m sure the Travolta''s are beating themselves up about the "what-ifs" but they should think about the other "what-ifs" and maybe that will bring them comfort. What if he had come out of the seizure with brain damage and was a vegetable. What if he outlived his parents and had to have people take care of him that didn''t truly love him. They gave him a GREAT and HAPPY life...I hope that is what they will focus on!!

[nansbabes08]

i have a daugther that haves seizures she is 18 now she started haveing them when she turn 12 they are bad at times it''s hard when she has one when are grandchildren are around they get scare but we try to let them no that she will be ok when she has one we talk her throw them

[yongamerica]

The money John Travolta spends on his yearly Scientology habit every year could save the lives of 200,000 children every year.

Is that not a blatant case of narcissism?

[justeme]

My deepest condolances to the Travolta family. God Bless!

[meinnv]

My condolences to the Travolta family for their loss. I know this is not an easy time for them, and leaving all religions aside; each family who loses a child deserves our sympathies and our prayers.

With regard to dying of seizures. Yes, it has been known to happen.

Last year (will be a year at the end of this month) one of my friends lost his 2 1/2 year old daughter to a seizure. She was on medication since she was a baby (and her seizures were declining as well). However, she didn''t get her final dose the night she died as she was so active that day, she was tired and went to bed early. Being that she was asleep, you wouldn''t think she would have needed the meds. Unfortunately, her parents went to check on her before they went to bed for the night, and found her without a pulse and not breathing. They called 9-1-1 and despite getting her to a hospital, she was unable to be revived.

The reason it is so uncommon is we hear more about car accidents, shootings and cancer deaths and we tend to forget there are other causes, some rare, but they do tend to happen.

[memerider]

My former boss''s daughter has a seizure disorder, and the drugs don''t adequately control it and they cause very nasty side effects, so they have trouble getting her to keep taking them.

Very sad situation, since there is no treatment that money can buy for such maladies. And so many middle class families are bankrupted by the hospitalization requirements of their special needs children.

[nmrabbit]

I had a friend when I was 10 who had a siesure in my front yard. I stuck my finger in his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue. He nearly bit it off. from then on I always carried a piece of wood to do the job. Being young he would forget to take his medicine. He later carried it with him all the time. from 10 to 16 I was with him during at least 50 seisures. Stiff as a board shaking allover like a leaf in high wind, mucus running out of his mouth and nose, teeth clamped down on my stick I would clean out his nose as best as I could and blow through his nostles. He hasn''t had a seisure in 53 years now because of the medicine he takes regularly. Even back 60 years ago the doctors said he could die at any time even while sitting at his school desk. It never stopped him though. We played basketball, baseball, boxing till he blooded my nose, fishing, hunting and swimming. So, you people who have not experienced it and complain about the family did this or that-- YOU can just shut up. I don''t need to know your IQ is 10.

[momsmyname04]

omg were all born with our own beleifs whatever they might be leave this family alone because of relegion they all beleive in it who are We to ssay what is right or wrong , u know have any of u heard of Zeightgeist!! watch it open your eyes & reeducate urselves,KEEP ON TOPIC this is about the loss of a child , keep it that way!