North Carolina resident Timothy Jackson is searching for answers following the death of his mother, Dana Jackson, while on a “Vodou retreat” in Haiti.
Dana Timothy, 51, had undertaken the trip with the intention of becoming a Vodou (Manbo) priestess, a respected position in the Haitian Vodou tradition.
Timothy Jackson, quoted in a USA TODAY article, said his mother had explored traditional African spiritual belief systems, including Vodou, for several years before deciding to attend the retreat in Haiti. “It was something she’d wanted to do for a long time,” Timothy said. He added that his mother had committed herself to the path of research and practice, with diligence.
Departing the U.S. on July 1, 2024, Dana Jackson intended to return on July 26. She traveled with a group of people she trusted, all involved in vodou rituals, says her son Timothy. He explained that the group, called Sosyete, had developed close relationships over time. “These weren’t strangers she was accompanying. These were people she built a relationship with,” he said, noting that they had even traveled to Boston together in June.
The news of Dana’s death was communicated to his son by his grandparents. He would later confirm with the trip organizers.
During the vodou ceremony, Timothy knew that there would be no communication with his mother, as is customary in this kind of ritual. Although this made him anxious, he respected his mother’s commitment. The last message he received from her on July 13 stated that they would speak again on July 21. However, on July 21, Timothy received no news from his mother, which worried him. “All week I had a little anxiety because I hadn’t heard from her,” he admitted. The next day, his anxiety turned to panic when he still received no answer. That’s when his grandmother called with devastating news. “She told me: ‘Your mother isn’t coming back from Haiti. I couldn’t believe it,” Timothy recalls. It took several calls to his grandparents to confirm that Dana Jackson had indeed passed away.
Timothy immediately sought further information from the group his mother had traveled with. Their response only reinforced his suspicions. “To be honest, my first thought was that something sinister had happened during the ceremony,” he says. The group leader informed him that Dana had become seriously ill during the ritual, had fainted and, when she regained consciousness, had lost all sense of where she was. Despite their efforts to get her to hospital, where she reportedly suffered convulsions, a heart attack and a stroke, Dana did not survive.
However, the information Timothy received raised more questions than it answered. “They said my mother hadn’t brought her medication, but I don’t know what medication they were talking about,” he noted, suggesting that the explanation he’d been given seemed inconsistent. Since then, he has been trying to obtain further details, including the whereabouts of his mother’s body, and has heard nothing from the US embassy in Port-au-Prince.
Recalling his mother’s life, Timothy describes Dana as his best friend.
Following his mother’s death, Timothy set up a GoFundMe account to cover funeral expenses and eventually fund an autopsy. “She told me she wanted to be cremated and what her last wishes were,” he explained. Dana would have been 52 on September 13.
“We don’t know what happened in the last few days, but my mother didn’t go to Haiti with the intention of not coming back,” said Timothy, who continues to search for answers and grieve.
This text was written based on an article by USA TODAY. To read the original article, click HERE.
