Bahamas autopsy planned for John Travolta's son

NASSAU (Reuters) - An autopsy is planned in the Bahamas for actor John Travolta's 16-year-old son, who died suddenly during a vacation at his family's resort home, authorities said.

Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said on Saturday the autopsy, which could determine the cause of death of Jett Travolta, was likely to be performed on Monday.

Rahming did not elaborate on the time or place of the procedure. He said Travolta's eldest child, who had a history of seizures, had been found unconscious in a bathroom at his family's home at the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island on Friday morning.

The body was discovered by a caretaker, Rahming said. Jett Travolta had last been seen alive on Thursday and was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport.

The Travoltas arrived in Grand Bahama on December 30 for a New Year family get-together at their vacation unit at the Old Bahama Bay hotel resort. They had planned to stay until January 9.

Family lawyer Michael Ossi said Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, were "distraught" over the loss of their son. Both have said previously that he became very sick when he was a toddler and was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which leads to inflammation of the blood vessels in young children.

"This is the worst day in Mr. and Mrs. Travolta's life -- nobody wants to bury their child," Ossi said.

Travolta's publicists declined to comment on autopsy or funeral plans.

But Tampa-based attorney Michael McDermott, a family friend, told the Star-Banner newspaper in Ocala, a city in north-central Florida, that the funeral was being arranged in Ocala.

The couple have maintained a home for more than five years near Ocala in the exclusive Jumbolair community that aviation enthusiasts like Travolta can fly into at the wheel of their own private jets.

(Editing by Tom Brown and Mohammad Zargham)