Toxicology reports are now back, and as it turns out, the deaths of three Americans in the Dominican Republic earlier this year were apparently NOT caused by foul play.
The toxicology reports in question, done by American authorities and conducted with oversight from the FBI, confirm what Dominican officials have been saying for months now: there was no foul play involved in the untimely deaths of three American travelers at the Bahia Principe resort on the island back in May.
Related: Poisoned Alcohol In Costa Rica Kills 19 — So Terrible
As you might recall, we reported quite a bit on this story as the mysterious deaths were making major international news over the summer. After multiple high-profile tourist deaths across several Latin American destinations all summer, bootleg alcohol and other factors were widely theorized to have been at work — but at least with three of the very first and most high-profile deaths in the Dominican, we now know that is not the case.
According to NBC Los Angeles, the final report on Pennsylvania resident Miranda Schaup-Werner determined that she died of a heart attack while at the Dominican resort back on May 25. And as for Marlyand couple Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Day, the final reports indicate they died in their room at the resort of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, respectively, during simultaneous events several days later, on May 30.
In Schaup-Werner’s case, she was reported to have taken a drink from the mini-bar, only to be “suddenly struck with acute physical distress,” according to a family spokesperson. Authorities in the Dominican quickly determined she’d suffered a heart attack, and now the American findings seem to have confirmed that — so the contents of her drink apparently did not contribute to her death.
The case of Holmes and Day is a bit more perplexing; the two were found dead in their hotel room at the Bahia Principe several days after checking in, and their bodies showed “no signs of violence,” despite having passed away apparently simultaneously. After Dominican authorities performed autopsies and determined the pair died from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, Day’s family requested a second autopsy by American doctors — and that second review now has found the exact same causes of death.
Related: ‘Bachelor’ Alum Melissa Rycroft Suffers ‘Mystery Illness’ In The D.R.
So as it turns out, the couple appears to have died simultaneously from two different causes — neither of which was related to suspected bootleg alcohol or other tainted local products. Wow.
An FBI spokesperson shared more about the findings (below):
“In this instance, the toxicology findings from the FBI were able to rule out several potential causes of death for Cynthia Day and Nathaniel Holmes, including methanol poisoning from tainted alcohol. The laboratory in Quantico and investigators in the Dominican Republic conducted thorough and time-consuming efforts, and none of the chemicals identified as possible toxins were found.”
It’s a relief, we suppose, that there’s apparently not a rash of dangerous bootleg alcohol throughout resort areas in the Dominican Republic, at least.
But still… this is no less a tragedy for the families, friends, and loved ones of those involved. Our hearts go out to them as they deal with the continued aftermath of all this investigation and media attention.
[Image via NBC Los Angeles News Video]
-
Categories
