Henry County

Mother begs for answers after son's death in Dominican Republic

A mother wants answers after her son died in the Dominican Republic. She feels there's a connection to the other deaths of American tourists in that country. (Photo via Tracey Jester Jr.'s family)

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A mother wants answers after her son died in the Dominican Republic. She feels there's a connection to the other deaths of American tourists in that country.

"As a mother, you're not there when your son takes his last breath. That hurts and I mean, you’ve got so many questions," said Melody Moore.

Moore says there is not a day that goes by that she doesn’t miss her son, Tracy Jester Jr. She says in April, he flew to the Dominican Republic with his sister for a quick weekend getaway.

"They had a good day. Saturday, they went out, they explored. They said they had a good day," she said.

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Moore says she talked to her son too and he seemed fine. She did tell me he drank a soda and that he told her didn't taste right. The next day, she says she got a call from her daughter early in the morning.

"She called me about 3:30 in the morning and she told me he was calling her saying he couldn’t breathe, just saying mama I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, Moore says.

Her daughter called 911, but it was too late. Moore says that on her son's death certificate it says he died of a respiratory problem, but she said she feels her son’s death is connected to the other 11 American tourists who have also died in that country since April. She said she called the FBI and an investigator put her son's name on a growing list of people who have died in the Dominican Republic in recent months. Moore says her son was healthy and never had any health issues.

"Being a mom, I want to go to where he was, where he died at last. Something is wrong, my son is gone. Something is really wrong," Moore said.

Pozen also talked to Jester's sister, who said he had Lupus. It's unclear if the illness was connected to his death.