Death Certificate: John Travolta's Teen Son Died of a Seizure
Jan. 6, 2009— -- Actor John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, are back home in Florida with the ashes of their 16-year-old son, Jett Travolta, who died after suffering a seizure Friday while the family vacationed in the Bahamas.
According to The Associated Press, John Travolta and Preston returned Monday night to Ocala, Fla., where they have a home, after receiving an urn with Jett Travolta's ashes.
Earlier Monday, two forensic pathologists, including an American physician, performed an autopsy in the Bahamas, but the cause of death was not released.
Glen Campbell, an official with a Bahamian funeral home, told the AP that Jett Travolta's death certificate said he was killed by a "seizure." Campbell said the certificate came from the autopsy findings but revealed no information on the cause of death beyond the word "seizure."
He added that the body was in "great condition" and showed no sign of head trauma. Police officials had said previously the teen may have hit his head on a bathtub.
Travolta family friend Obie Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamian Parliament, told "Good Morning America" of the heart-wrenching moment when John Travolta identified his son's body at the morgue.
"They escorted him into the room where his son was and glass separated them. And he was asked to identify his son," Wilchcombe told "Good Morning America." "His words were 'That's my son.'"
"After he said that," Wilchcombe continued, "he asked that he and his wife be left alone for a period of time, and they stayed in the room for a long period of time -- several hours in fact."
In a ruse to throw off paparazzi, a black hearse drove from the funeral home to the airport late Monday but Jett Travolta's body remained in the funeral home.
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.
On Sunday, John Travolta and Preston issued their first public statement since Jett Travolta's death.
"Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered," said the statement posted on John Travolta's Web site. "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."
