Another name has been added to the list of deaths in the Dominican Republic in the last year: an American tourist named Leyla Cox.
The MRI tech from New York City was in the Caribbean celebrating her 53rd birthday — not knowing it would be her last.
Like several others before her, Leyla suddenly fell ill and died while staying in a hotel in Punta Cana.
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CNN reports the Excellence Resort first claimed she was taken to the hospital — then later admitted she died in her room.
Why the discrepancy?? Hmm…
Leyla’s son Will Cox has been trying to get more out of the Dominican government but tells NBC News his efforts are being blocked:
“The Dominican Republic has put every roadblock in my way to prevent me from finding the answers that I need to sleep at night. It keeps me up at night knowing that my mother’s remains belongs to a foreign country.”
The hotel cited a forensics report saying Leyla died of a heart attack. But that’s been true in every case — the question is, what caused the heart failure??
Will says like several of the other victims, Leyla was in good health:
“She was at no risk for a heart attack and I truly believe in some way, shape or form, the Dominican Republic is responsible for my mother’s death. If she would’ve went anywhere else in the world, she’d be alive today.”
The hotel is in full-on CYA mode over their first known death connected to the string of recent fatalities. The previous deaths occurred at the Hard Rock and at the Bahia Principe.
The Excellence released an official statement, saying:
“We are deeply saddened by the recent incidents in the Dominican Republic. We understand that safety is a paramount concern for all travelers and we have always taken extensive measures to make safety a priority of all of our Excellence Punta Cana guests.”
That isn’t the only statement which feels very much like desperate damage control.
Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia said about the string of unexplained deaths earlier this month:
“In the last five years, over 30 million tourists have visited the Dominican Republic, but this is the first time the international media report such an alarming situation. These are isolated incidents and the Dominican Republic is a safe destination.”
Isolated incidents?
Sorry, but no way.
Thus far, there have been eight deaths in the past year in Punta Cana, at three different resorts.
Almost all have died in their hotel rooms, half were known to have drunk from the minibar — leading to speculation about bootleg alcohol.
The deaths occurred over a year, though six have been in the past three months — a spike which led to the current investigation by the FBI and CDC.
In June 2018, Yvette Nicole Sport, 51, was on a romantic getaway with her fiancé when she reportedly took a drink from the minibar — then went to bed and never woke up.
In July 2018, David Harrison, 45, had a soda from the hotel minibar in his room. He got sick and died shortly after — cause of death listed as heart attack.
In April, John Corcoran, 60, brother of Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran, was discovered dead in his hotel room while awaiting the arrival of his girlfriend for their vacation.
In that same month Robert Bell Wallace, 67, reportedly drank a scotch from the minibar in his hotel room and fell ill; he was hospitalized and died two days later.
The very next month, Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, was celebrating her ninth wedding anniversary; her husband says she made herself a drink from the minibar and shortly after collapsed. Her autopsy revealed she died of a heart attack, causing pulmonary edema — fluid in the lungs — and respiratory failure.
Also in May, engaged couple Edward Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Day, 49, were found dead in their room. An autopsy revealed pulmonary edema once again.
Another couple is suing after they reported becoming violently ill in their room at the Bahia Principe.
Obviously the connection is still circumstantial at the moment.
But despite what the tourism board may want potential visitors to think, there is something there.
[Images via CNN/Bookit/YouTube.]
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