Dr. Sebi, the world renowned holistic healer who famously treated TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, died in his native Honduras. Sebi, 82, passed away on Aug. 6, reportedly while in custody.
According to Rolling Out, Sebi’s family had been working to get him out of custody for the last few months. He got increasingly sick in jail and died while being transported to Hospital D’Antoni in the city of La Cieba. The cause of death was reported as complications brought on by pneumonia.
Various reports says Sebi was detained at Juan Manuel Galvez de Roatan Airport on May 28, 2016 for suspicion of money laundering. He and another man, Pablo Medina Gamboa , were allegedly carrying a combined total of $30,000-$50,000 in cash.
Three days after the reported airport arrest, a post from Sebi’s Twitter account addressed a Google posting stating that his company was “permanently closed.”
It has been brought to our attention that, when searching on Google, Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food company’s information is listed as being…
— Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food (@drsebiscellfood) May 31, 2016
… “permanently closed.”
THIS CLAIM IS FALSE AND COMPLETELY OUT-OF-ORDER.
Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food company remains open.
— Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food (@drsebiscellfood) May 31, 2016
In July, Sebi’s account tweeted that he was “alive and well” in response to a fan question.
@florenc47400952 @wildabeast24 Yes, he is alive and well.
— Dr. Sebi’s Cell Food (@drsebiscellfood) July 14, 2016
No official details have been released verifying Sebi’s arrest date, or length of detainment. Sebi, whose products were sold via his website, has an office in Los Angeles and had reportedly been stopped at the airport in Honduras before. He was carrying $30,000 in that incident, but provided authorities with paperwork proving the source of the cash.
A post on the Dr. Sebi official Facebook account Saturday (Aug. 6) confirmed his death, and promised to reveal more details of his final days.
“The Great Healer has passed to a better place,” reads the post. “However, his legacy and vision will live on through us all. They will not shut us down. They will not silence us! Please stand beside us in these moments of great anguish. Do not accept the propaganda of other people or news outlets. This is the only Dr. Sebi approved channel and has always and will always be his only one true voice.”
Born Alfredo Bowman, in Honduras in 1933, Sebi is noted as a pathologist, herbalist and naturalist. According to his website Sebi “spent decades studying plants in North South and Central America, Africa and the Caribbean” and created a line of natural “cell food compounds used for inter-cellular cleansing and cellular revitalization” to combat disease.
Sebi took what he described as an “African approach” to medicine, and claimed cures for AIDS, cancer, and more. His celebrity patients included Lopes and Michael Jackson.