her brother is speaking out and sharing new details about the rapid-fire succession of events of that day.
Cape Town, South Africa, Dean's 21-year-old brother, Alex Jacobs, says that Dean began experiencing "mild" symptoms while staying with her partner, Luke Volker, in New York City.
As she began feeling worse, Jacobs says, she asked Volker to transport her to an emergency room, where she died hours later.
He notes that her cause of her death is still pending an autopsy that was underway on Wednesday.
"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," Jacobs tells the outlet.
She was really the glue that kept us together," he adds, noting that he's concerned about Volker's well being.
I can’t imagine what it would have been like, being there. My mom’s biggest worry was that she was going to die alone.
As the family awaits results of Dean's autopsy, Jacobs speculates that her death may have stemmed from a "very, very bad car accident.