Woman Dies At Haitian Vodou Retreat; Son Seeks Answers

by Daniel Johnson

August 18, 2024

Dana Jackson went to Haiti to become a Vodou priestess.

Dana Jackson, a North Carolina woman, was scheduled to return from a Vodou spiritual retreat in Haiti on July 26, but concerns arose among her family members when she failed to come back as expected.

According to WCNC Charlotte, Timothy Jackson, Dana’s son, was already skeptical of his mother’s trip due to the unstable political environment and violence in Haiti, but his mother was adamant about becoming a Vodou priestess. 

“We talked and [she] told me she was fine once they got there … we would talk once a day or even more,” Timothy told the outlet.

He continued, “The last text I received from her was on July 12. They were going to church the following day and [she said] to pray for her. I knew at this last part of the ceremony she wouldn’t have access to her phone. I did research and that was common.” 

According to USA Today, although Timothy was uncertain about his mother’s trip, she was not going to Haiti with complete strangers, these were people whom the 51-year-old Jackson had built relationships with. 

“The people that she went down there with, their name is Sosyete and I believe that that means society in the Turkish language and Nago,” Timothy told USA Today. “These weren’t strangers that she went down there with. These are people that she’s built a relationship with.”

According to Timothy, his mother was going to send him a message on July 21 and when she did not message him by July 22, he began to feel like something was wrong. His grandmother would confirm his worst fears that same day, when she called Timothy to tell him that his mother had died. 

“The way she told me was, ‘your mom’s not coming back from Haiti.’ So I hung up the phone with her,” Timothy told USA Today.  “I called her back. I asked her, ‘what did she mean?’ She said, ‘she’s not coming back from Haiti. She passed away.’ I hung up the phone. I called her again.”

After confirming her mother’s death with his grandfather, Timothy then called the person who was in charge of the itinerary, demanding answers, but what answers he received only created more questions. 

“I pulled up her itinerary and called the lady in charge, Manbo Maude, and I asked her what happened,” Timothy told WCNC. “They asked me how much I knew. Then they said she had gone through the ritual but got sick and had a stroke … then she said seizures … then, she changed it up and said she had an asthma attack. I feel like they manipulated and lied to my mom and I feel like I can’t be quiet about it anymore.”

Timothy told USA Today that it felt like they were hiding something from him. “That was the initial story. They said that my mom didn’t bring her medicine. So there was a red flag, because what medicine are you guys talking about? it sounds like they were trying to perpetuate a story.”

Timothy also told the outlet that his mother was extremely health conscious and would have gone to a hospital if she suspected something was wrong. Timothy eventually discovered that his mother’s body had been moved around Haiti multiple times and he had no idea where her body was at.

Upon receiving the official death certificate from Haiti, Timothy also noticed it looked sloppy and was missing key information such as the official cause of his mother’s death. 

Timothy has also created a GoFundMe to assist in covering the costs of bringing his mother’s body home from Haiti.

According to the GoFundMe, which at the time of writing has raised $10,000 of its $50,000 goal. “We are unable to get clear answers as to how she passed. We also don’t have answers on where she is located or where her belongings are. Usually, when someone dies in another country, the US Embassy is involved and they will work with the family and funeral homes to get the body back to the States. This has yet to happen,” Timothy wrote.

He added, “The group she left with has been untruthful and, at times, hard to reach. To add insult, the family has received information that while attending this retreat, Dana was neglected and not properly taken care of during the time of her demise.”

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