The agent of Jeff Thomas has proposed that his death was due to an accidental fall while taking a selfie, differing from the previous supposition of suicide. Luli Batista of the Sovereign Talent Group told DailyMail.com, “I can’t believe it was intentional.”
Thomas’ body was discovered last Wednesday at the bottom of an apartment complex in Miami. Witnesses reported that Thomas had jumped, yet Batista did not think so. She proposed that he may have stumbled while taking a picture of himself.
She shared that she spoke to the Floridian less than 24 hours prior to his passing, noting that they had a friendly conversation in which Thomas was apparently joking about an audition. He was also excited to tell her about his move to Miami and the new project he was starting. Batista lamented, “He seemed thrilled and was proud of himself. He was happy, motivated and excited for his next step just loving life.”
Contrastingly, Thomas’ brother Skylar Ray Thomas posted on Facebook that his brother had been dealing with “addiction and mental health challenges”, implying that it was a suicide. Nevertheless, Thomas’ cousin Meghan Rae remarked, “This was not a suicide. To report otherwise is a complete disregard to his character and who he was.” The autopsy has been completed, yet authorities have not released any official reports regarding the cause of death.
Thomas was a well-known model, signed to the London-based agency AMCK and frequently featured in magazines, commercials, and runway shows. He was also the founder and director of the contemporary art consultancy One Popsicle. On Instagram, where he had over 120,000 followers, he often shared pictures of his jawline and physique. He also posted a video of his grandmother arriving at the Fort Lauderdale Airport and one of his last pictures was a tattoo of the word “resilience”.
When news of his death spread, a number of people in the modeling business paid tribute to Thomas on his final post on Instagram.
Kris Haigh, a LA fashion designer, wrote, “You never failed to bring an upbeat energy every time I saw you. We never know what people are really going through. I will use this as a reminder to ask people how they are more even when they seem happy on the outside. RIP Jeff.” Joe Carozza, a stuntman and fellow fashion model, shared, “Your infectious smile always brought so much joy to my life. Rest in peace sweet boy.” Gerald Frankowski, Thomas’ modeling agent, stated, “It was a pleasure to have been your agent. You did everything you needed to do to succeed in the biz. Frustrating at times but I knew your goals and your passion to get there. More important was the friendship we developed afterwards. Your heart was always in the right place. RIP #DIT.”