How Kelly Preston and John Travolta healed after the unexpected death of their son Jett in 2009, 11 years before Preston died of breast cancer.
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Preston's son Jett Travolta was described as suffering from
Kawasaki disease as an infant and had a history of seizures.
[32][33] In 2003, Preston appeared on
The Montel Williams Show to promote
L. Ron Hubbard's
Purification Rundown, which she credited with helping her son.
[34]
On January 2, 2009, Jett Travolta died while the family was on a vacation in
the Bahamas.
[35][36] His death was attributed to a
seizure.
[37] In September 2009, Travolta and Preston confirmed longstanding speculations when they testified that their son had
autism and suffered regular seizures. This revelation came during their testimony at the trial resulting from an
extortion attempt related to their son's death.
[38]
On January 23, 2009, three people were arrested in the Bahamas in connection with a multimillion-dollar extortion plot against Travolta and Preston concerning the circumstances of their son's death.
[39] One of the men, Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the
Bahamian Parliament and former Bahamian Minister of Tourism, was described as a "close friend" of Travolta and Preston.
[39] Two others allegedly involved were an
EMT named Tarino Lightbourne and a Bahamian senator named
Pleasant Bridgewater. Bridgewater was charged with
abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort and resigned from the
Senate as a result of the allegations.
[39][40] The first trial ended in a mistrial. After a second jury had been selected, the Travoltas elected to drop the case and all charges against the defendants were dismissed.
[41]
On July 12, 2020, Preston died at the age of 57, two years after she had been diagnosed with
breast cancer.
[42][43][44][45] Her diagnosis had been kept quiet and was not widely publicized.
[42] Her death was announced on an
Instagram post under an account belonging to John Travolta and Ella Bleu.
[46]