Her brother Alex Jacobs, previously told Rolling Stone that Dean was involved in a “very, very bad car accident” around 2009, after which doctors removed her spleen. He also noted that his sister suffered broken ribs and a broken back in the accident
“[The spleen is] involved in fighting off infections, and that could have had something to do with what happened,” Jacobs said on Aug. 31. “Her spleen not being there just added on to the reason why she perhaps couldn’t fight it off.”
Jacobs also detailed his sister’s last day alive, explaining that Dean began experienced “minor” symptoms before asking her fiancé, Luke Volker, to take her to an emergency room. She died just a few hours later.
Her brother told the outlet, “This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital.”