Two prominent Bahamian citizens and a paramedic were detained in the Bahamas in an alleged extortion scheme targeting John Travolta following the death of his 16-year-old son, Jett Travolta, earlier this month, according to reports.
Pleasant Bridgewater, an attorney and member of the country's parliament, has been held since Thursday. Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne was detained on Friday.
Obie Wilchcombe, the island's former Minister of Tourism and a friend of the Travoltas, was also arrested. On Larry King Live, he talked about how the family coping with Jett's tragic death - revealing some very personal details.
Police did not disclose the exact nature of the alleged plot, which was rumored - though never confirmed - to involve unnamed parties trying to extort $20 million from the Travoltas for information about Jett's passing.
Lightbourne was quoted in celebrity gossip reports about trying to revive Jett Travolta, who died at the family's vacation home in Grand Bahama.
Wilchcombe was initially brought to the police station under the pretext of helping authorities crack the case, but is now "implicated" in the alleged extortion plot.
He has been released pending further investigation.
Bridgewater was charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort and released Friday on $40,000 bail. Lightbourne remains in custody.
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4 Comments
January 24th, 2009 4:23 PM
I am so sad over the death of Jett! I have 5 kids of my own, and if anything ever happened to them ,I think I would die. I have nothing but love and compassion for John, Kelly, and Ella, and also the grandparents!All these jerks that want to exstort money from the Travolta family are Lower then low. Godbless Jetts family, and just know that there are people who love your family and only pray that you will make it through this. Your fans are devastated, but not just because of who you are, but because of who that precious boy Jett was. Our thoughts and prayers are with your family.May God bless you all!
January 24th, 2009 10:05 PM
It's quite amazing visually how Jett was the splitting image of both (in equal amounts) Kelly Preston and John Travolta! Wow, there's no confusing that!
January 24th, 2009 10:06 PM
It's quite amazing visually how Jett was the splitting image of both (in equal parts) Kelly Preston and John Travolta! Wow, there's no confusing that!
January 26th, 2009 10:52 PM
This just shows the greed of people who put themselves above the law, like these 3 individuals that were charged with extortion. The Bahama government is well known to be corrupt and the trial should not take place on their own soil, after all the justice system is as corrupt as the government. That Bridgewater lady- something fishy about her being a lawyer in her own firm and working for the govt at the same time, there is a crook somewhere.