Authorities in the Dominican Republic are fighting back after numerous deaths of Americans on the island. They say that the media scrutiny around the multiple deaths is sabotaging the island’s tourism and that most of the deaths are, if not normal, not out of the ordinary for tourists on vacation either.
Today, they said that Cynthia Ann Day, who was found dead along with her fiance Edward Nathaniel Holmes on May 30th at the Grand Bahia Principe La Ramona hotel, died of shock after seeing that her fiancé was dead. The Maryland-based couple had been enjoying their stay at the hotel, posting happy pictures on social media.
An official with the Dominican Republic Ministry of Public Health is adamantly claiming that there were no mysterious circumstances around the deaths of the Maryland couple who were found dead in their hotel room last month.
On Wednesday, Ministry of Public Health spokesman Carlos Suero told Fox News that following Edward Nathaniel Holmes’ death on May 30, his fiancée Cynthia Ann Day died merely “from the shock of seeing the person beside her dead.”
RELATED: Second African-American Couple Dies In The Dominican Republic
Suero argued that the engaged pair, who reportedly had high blood pressure medication in the hotel room, exhibited “a lot of medical conditions” which increased their risk while traveling.
“They had a lot of medical conditions. There were many bottles of prescription medication in their room,” Suero told the outlet. “They practically carried around a pharmacy with them. They had pills for blood pressure, for the heart, they had antidepressants. When you get on an airplane and travel with all that medical [baggage], this can happen.”
Yet they are the second African-American couple to die on the island this year. The other couple was reportedly involved in a car accident. Their bodies and the rental car they drove were found near a highway that leads to the airport. And there was another death at the same resort that Day and Holmes were staying at five days before.
A 41-year-old Pennsylvania woman died of a heart attack after taking a drink from the mini-bar. Two other African-Americans – Richard Harrison, 45, and Nicole Sport, 51, both died on the island last year. Their deaths were initially believed to be heart attacks.
A Colorado couple said they were sickened after staying at the same resort Holmes and Day did. There are a total of eight tourists who have died at resorts in the Dominican Republic since 2018 and others, including 47 Jimmy Buffett fans there on a group trip, were sickened.
The FBI is now investigating the deaths, although the Dominican Republic says that tourist deaths overseas are common.
Day and Holmes were returned to their families in Maryland for burial.
Steven Bullock, a lawyer for Day and Holmes, issued a statement on behalf of them and their families:
“The families of Cynthia Ann Day and Nathaniel Edward Holmes would like to thank the community for their condolences and support in their loss. We are continuing to investigate the exact cause of death. The families are determined to find out what happened and why. At this time the cause of death remains a mystery. We look forward to getting the FBI findings.”
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