Authorities are investigating tainted liquor as a possible source for the series of recent U.S. tourist deaths, the New York Post reported.
They are looking into mysterious deaths that occurred at several Dominican Republic resorts over the past year that have similar circumstances, including victims’ use of the hotel mini-bar in some cases, according to the report.
The FBI confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation that it’s “assisting the Dominican authorities with their investigation.”
Authorities eyeing bootleg liquor as potential cause of DR tourist deaths https://t.co/3xoJ9rQglS pic.twitter.com/WvU0YAnXyI
— New York Post (@nypost) June 14, 2019
In addition to the deaths, people have said they fell ill after consuming liquor from their hotel mini-bar, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Another American Tourist Mysteriously Dies In Dominican Republic)
Symptoms among the victims have included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, all of which are consistent with pesticide or methanol poisoning, Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, told the New York Post.
So far the reported deaths that are being investigated include:
- Robert Bell Wallace, 67, died April 14
- Miranda Schaup-Warner, 41, found dead May 25
- Edward Holmes, 63, found dead May 30
- Cynthia Day, 49, died May 30
- Leyla Cox, 53, died June 10
“Dominican authorities have asked for FBI assistance for further toxicology analysis on the recent Bahia Principe, La Romana cases and our FBI colleagues tell us that those results may take up to 30 days,” the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic said in a statement. “We ask everyone to be patient while these investigations run their course.”
Representatives from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Bahia Principe resorts, where a number of the victims stayed, told the New York Post the fatalities were accidents.
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