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Gan Bahia Principe Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department confirmed that back in April,
an American tourist named Robert Wallace died under mysterious circumstances at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana. According to his niece, Wallace, 67, was last seen having a Scotch from the hotel mini bar before he fell ill.
"He started feeling very sick, he had blood in his urine and stool right afterward," Wallace's niece, Chloe Arnold, said. He died in a local hospital three days later.
Wallace's death, while strange, wouldn't be considered all that unusual, if not for the fact that it is the latest in a string of recent mysterious deaths of American tourists in the Dominican Republic. Most recently, an American couple was found dead at the Grand Bahía Principe La Romana in the Dominican Republic, with investigators saying that while no cause of death has yet been determined, no signs of violence were reported on the scene. Last month, a 41-year-old tourist from Pennsylvania was found dead in the same hotel, reportedly also after having a drink from the minibar.
The FBI is working with Dominican Republic officials to determine whether there's any link between the deaths, but toxicology report results aren't expected for at least a month. In the meantime, here's what's been going on in the Dominican Republic, and what we know about the tourist deaths so far.
Comment: Update 6/14/2019:
A seventh person, Leyla Cox, was
reportedly found dead of a heart attack in an undisclosed hotel room. An autopsy was ordered, but according to her son, there was a problem with getting a toxicology report:
Following her death, an autopsy was ordered to be performed, but a toxicology report could not be guaranteed, the son told the Advance.
Despite acknowledging that a toxicology report could be ordered if a "red flag" was found during an autopsy under Dominican Republic law, William said that he was told that no toxicology report could be given to his mother in the Dominican Republic because "the toxicology machine is broken."
"That's what they told me," he said ...
William Cox knows that cremation will eliminate the opportunity to perform a toxicology report, something his family sorely wishes could be completed.
"They've put me against a wall where I don't have a choice," he said. "Our own toxicology report would cost copious amounts of money."
Another woman has
reported that her brother, John Corcoran, died under "eerily similar" circumstances in a Dominican Republic hotel back in April of this year. It's unclear where he was staying:
Barbara Corcoran's brother was found dead in his hotel room in the Dominican Republic, and the circumstances sound eerily familiar to the 6 mysterious tourist deaths in the country over the past year ... TMZ has learned.
The "Shark Tank" star tells us her brother, John, was in the D.R. with a friend in April on his yearly vacation when he died of a heart attack. At least, that's what she was told. As far as she knows, there's been no autopsy.
Barbara says her brother's friend -- who was staying in the same suite -- discovered the body, but nobody knows exactly what happened.
The
New York Post is
reporting that cops are investigating whether the tourists were poisoned by counterfeit booze:
Others have reported falling ill, but surviving, after drinking from their minibars.
A Post reporter at one of the resorts noted the vodka in the room had a strange, potent smell resembling pure alcohol.
Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, said the symptoms among some of the dead - including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea - were consistent with poisoning from methanol or pesticides.
Methanol is a type of alcohol not safe for humans. It is regularly used as antifreeze.
"Adulterated alcohol is usually methanol added to alcohol or just plain methanol, which is very, very toxic," Kobilinsky said.
"It looks to me, from what I've heard and read, is that something was added to the drinks or bottles in those little refrigerators."
Update 6/22/2109
Fox News is
reporting that two more Americans died during their vacations in the Dominican Republic. Chris Palmer and Barbara Maser-Mitchell both died at resorts in Punta Cana. The two deaths would bring the number up to 9:
They have been identified as Chris Palmer, a 41-year-old Army veteran from Kansas who died April 18, 2018, and Barbara Diane Maser-Mitchell, a 69-year-old retired nurse from Pennsylvania who died on Sept. 17, 2016, after falling critically ill at a resort. ...
... In reports given to Palmer's family, Dominican authorities said that he had pulmonary edema and that the official cause of death was a heart attack. For Maser-Mitchell, authorities have said a heart attack was the official cause of death.
"As soon as he died, I wondered if he was poisoned, if he was drugged," said Bernadette Hiller, who dated Palmer for about 10 years and saw him the week before he died. "He was healthy as a horse."
... Prior to taking the trip, Mackey said, Maser-Mitchell had a medical exam and was cleared to go on vacation.
Representative, D-New Jersey, Adriano Espaillat will be travelling to the Dominican Republic next month to meet with government officials. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and FBI Director Christopher Wray, and Representative Frank Pallone, D-New Jersey, in a letter dated June 19 wrote:
"The circumstances surrounding the untimely deaths of nine Americans is heartbreaking, and I ask that you immediately take steps to update the bereaved families and ensure they are given all information on the cause of their loved one's death as the investigation continues ...
...at least nine American tourists without pre-existing illnesses experienced similar symptoms, including pulmonary edema, bleeding, and vomiting blood and death....I also urge you to expedite a reassessment of the Travel Advisory for the Dominican Republican to make sure American travelers have a full understanding of travel risks. I ask the Department of State and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to provide our offices with an update on the current investigations of these illnesses and deaths, and what possible steps can be taken to prevent any further loss of American lives ..."
"... There are no problems of contaminated or adulterated beverages as has been falsely said [by the media]," Garcia said. "We [Dominican officials] are the ones who have taken the samples, multiple samples, from kitchens, rooms, water, minibars, etc. This testing includes the Bahia Principe resorts, the Hard Rock resort, and others. The samples are being analyzed in laboratories and that results may be available Friday or Monday ..."
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