Dominican Republic - American tourists found dead in resorts, same cause of death, 2018/2019

[scriabina]

An engaged couple and a 41-yr-old woman celebrating her 9th wedding anniversary both died within 5 days of each other in the same hotel, both from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. Manner of death is unknown in both cases.

"McDonald, a business marketing executive, said that Daniel Werner told him that Schaup and he were in their room, before she had an alcoholic drink, sat down and took a selfie, and then stood up.

"At that point, he said his brother-in-law told him, “She started shrieking and she dropped to the floor. He attempted to do CPR, he tried to resuscitate her.”

"Werner then reportedly called hotel staff, and paramedics arrived and administered an epinephrine injection, usually used to treat severe allergic reactions.

“'At that point, they just declared her dead,' McDonald said, adding that the authorities “did a very cursory [look] into determining the cause of death.”

Pennsylvania woman died at same Dominican hotel five days before Maryland couple in similar circumstances

Maryland couple found dead in Dominican Republic hotel room

 

[JDG]

The shot of epinephrine could have contributed to the pulmonary edema and respiratory problems.

Another medical mystery to be solved ASAP.

 

[alexwood]

Sounds like cyanide poisoning from the minibar. Who could resist an all-inclusive "free" minibar in the hotel room? Hope the woman's husband saved the container for testing by in the U.S. I'm sure that the engaged couple's drink containers are long gone. Too bad.

 

[bubblepup]

Three cases of congestive heart failure would not be rare in nature, even though these occurred to three persons in a common location over a short period of time. So much is coincidence in a small space with seven and a half billion people.

 

[scriabina]

I'm stumped about this one. It sounds like the couple and the woman may have died from the same thing. I might think carbon monoxide for the couple, but that manner of death doesn't make sense for the 2nd woman who died, as her husband was with her in the room at the time and he was totally fine.

Severe dengue can cause acute pulmonary edema which can occur and be fatal within hours. However, normally there are warning signs leading up to that point, and I haven't read anything that suggests they were feeling sick in the days leading up to their deaths.

 

[Ray_of_hope]

I'm worried that it could be something sinister. I'll be interested in the toxicology report. Whatever the cause, I hope it's discovered quickly.

 

[Herat]

I keep thinking about an improper pesticide like methyl bromide

I am haunted by the story of the family who were heavily poisoned by the banned pesticide methyl bromide used by Teminex used in the lovely villa on a Caribbean island.

Huge settlement for family sickened by toxic pesticide on vacation

 

[lucylulu]

KUTV 2News on Twitter

 

[Herat]

A great many things can cause acute pulmonary edema.

For the event described as happening to Miranda Shoup -Werner where she shrieked and literally dropped dead, a very fast acting poison like cyanide is certainly possible.

 

[Herat]

Three cases of congestive heart failure would not be rare in nature, even though these occurred to three persons in a common location over a short period of time. So much is coincidence in a small space with seven and a half billion people.

Congestive heart failure is usually a very chronic process due to gradually declining heart muscle function due to longterm ischemic heart disease

Or Acute failure such as can occur with an acute myocardial infarction where suddenly the heart muscles cannot contract as normally due to lack of blood flow or a rupture of the muscle for a cardiac valve.

I, too, am suspect about some toxic substance exposure, which could be from a recreational stimulant drug, or an accidental or intentional exposure to a poisonous substance.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Mama Juana?

 

[Herat]

Mama Juana?

Not unless it was laced with something like PCP or was a home brew using something weird

 

[scriabina]

Sounds like cyanide poisoning from the minibar. Who could resist an all-inclusive "free" minibar in the hotel room? Hope the woman's husband saved the container for testing by in the U.S. I'm sure that the engaged couple's drink containers are long gone. Too bad.

You may be on to something. I hope they treated both rooms like a crime scene to preserve potential evidence but I fear you are correct, that the couple's drink containers are gone.

The alcoholic drink was indeed from the mini bar...

Pennsylvania Woman Died at Same Dominican Republic Hotel 5 Days Before Engaged Couple Was Found Dead

The above article also states they had just checked into the hotel. So it does sound like whatever she drank in that minibar was contaminated, whether purposely or not. Either that, or the timing is just a coincidence. Article said she took a selfie soon before dying... Usually people don't take selfies when they're feeling gravely ill, so I assume she was feeling fine at that point. Whatever happened, it killed her very quickly.

ETA quote from above article:

"As they were getting situated in their hotel room, McDonald said Miranda 'decided to relax with a drink from the minibar' and mixed a bottle of alcohol with a soda. But less than an hour later, things took a turn for the worst.

"'Suddenly, she called out to Dan and he came right over and she was unable to breathe. She collapsed, she couldn’t communicate,' he recalled to Fox News. 'He did his best to try and resuscitate, to help her'...

“'It was very sudden,' he noted. '[Daniel] said one moment [Miranda was] taking pictures, smiling, happy and the next moment, in extreme pain and collapsing… she had no known health issues that I knew of.'"

 

[swedeheart]

<modsnip>

Has pulmonary edema been confirmed as the cause of death for this Maryland couple or just a theory? Again, (not being snarky) what are the chances they would BOTH get that at the exact same time and die within hours of each other?

And would pesticides kill you (2 people!) on the spot like that? I would think that would be something that would make you sick for days, even weeks, before it would kill you. (I could be very wrong about that). And why was it just those 2 that got sick/died? Wouldn't the other people who came into contact with the pesticides be dropping dead, too?

This is nuts. And I think it's all 100 percent intentional. I think it's something to do with the people working at these resorts, too.

MOO.

 

[human]

I live in a tropical location that is a popular tourist destination. The hotels spray all of the time to get rid of mosquitos and other biting insects.

I was shocked to find out my friend who rents out homes for vacation sprays his elderly mother’s house with some kind of mosquito poison. I did not ask if he sprays his rental places but I bet he does.

My husband goes to the hardware store to get rat poison. All poisons are stored in a locked room and a worker puts on a hazmat suit to get the poisons.

Tropical places are filled with all kinds of bugs. Vacationers expect their trip to be paradise.

With the popularity of airbnb and people with zero understanding of the toxics that are out there, I wonder how many more weird things we will hear about.

 

[Herat]

You may be on to something. I hope they treated both rooms like a crime scene to preserve potential evidence but I fear you are correct, that the couple's drink containers are gone.

The alcoholic drink was indeed from the mini bar...

Pennsylvania Woman Died at Same Dominican Republic Hotel 5 Days Before Engaged Couple Was Found Dead

The above article also states they had just checked into the hotel. So it does sound like whatever she drank in that minibar was contaminated, whether purposely or not. Either that, or the timing is just a coincidence. Article said she took a selfie soon before dying... Usually people don't take selfies when they're feeling gravely ill, so I assume she was feeling fine at that point. Whatever happened, it killed her very quickly.

ETA quote from above article:

"As they were getting situated in their hotel room, McDonald said Miranda 'decided to relax with a drink from the minibar' and mixed a bottle of alcohol with a soda. But less than an hour later, things took a turn for the worst.

"'Suddenly, she called out to Dan and he came right over and she was unable to breathe. She collapsed, she couldn’t communicate,' he recalled to Fox News. 'He did his best to try and resuscitate, to help her'...

“'It was very sudden,' he noted. '[Daniel] said one moment [Miranda was] taking pictures, smiling, happy and the next moment, in extreme pain and collapsing… she had no known health issues that I knew of.'"

Miranda's death does seem to be associated with ingesting something in a bottle she presumed was alcohol. I wonder if someone was drinking the alcohol & replacing the volume with something toxic. And she had soda, too, by report. Did her husband have any of this?

 

[k8ling0087]

I agree, the mini bar drink stands out. Disgruntled employee randomly placing toxic drinks in fridges? I mean, I've heard of crazier things. It's too coincidental that 3 people died of the same thing and one of them being a couple and dying together at the same time in the same room...

 

[roche.analisa]

MIRANDA WERNER: Pa. woman dies at Dominican Republic resort, 5 days before Maryland couple died there too

 

[human]

Wouldn’t the drinks in the mini bar be sealed? Or maybe someone would not notice if they weren’t?

 

[dotr]

Pennsylvania Woman Died at Same Dominican Republic Hotel 5 Days Before Engaged Couple Was Found Dead
"For the second time in less than a week, another American was found dead inside of a Dominican Republic hotel.

Shortly after arriving on the Caribbean island on May 25, Miranda Schaup-Werner collapsed and died in her hotel room at Bahia Principe Hotel in La Romana, Fox News reports.

The Allentown, Pennsylvania psychotherapist, 41, had just checked into her room with husband Daniel Werner and was looking forward to a relaxing trip to celebrate their 9th wedding anniversary, but the couple sadly never got the chance to do so.

Now, Miranda’s family are searching for answers as just five days after her sudden death, an engaged couple from Maryland were found dead in their room at the same hotel.

“Daniel and all of us are in a state of disbelief, we are shocked. She was perfectly content, everything seemed fine,” Jay McDonald, Daniel’s brother-in-law, told Fox News. “It was, at first, a little confusing that there was such a strong parallel… it immediately caused serious concern for us.”

Speaking to the outlet, McDonald said Miranda and Daniel planned to spend five days in the Dominican Republic and seemed to be pleased by the island and resort from the minute they arrived.

“They enjoyed vacationing in that part of the world, in the Caribbean,” he told the outlet. “They arrived on May 25 on Saturday. They really seemed to enjoy the place. If you see the photos [on Facebook] and the way they were presented, clearly they were very happy to be there.”

Miranda-Schaup Werner and Daniel Werner
Facebook
RELATED: Engaged Maryland Couple Found Dead in Their Hotel Room in the Dominican Republic

As they were getting situated in their hotel room, McDonald said Miranda “decided to relax with a drink from the minibar” and mixed a bottle of alcohol with a soda. But less than an hour later, things took a turn for the worst.

“Suddenly, she called out to Dan and he came right over and she was unable to breathe. She collapsed, she couldn’t communicate,” he recalled to Fox News. “He did his best to try and resuscitate, to help her.”

After attempting CPR, Daniel called for help. After paramedics arrived, they administered an epinephrine injection, typically used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions. Despite their efforts, Miranda was declared dead soon after.

“It was very sudden,” he noted. “[Daniel] said one moment [Miranda was] taking pictures, smiling, happy and the next moment, in extreme pain and collapsing… she had no known health issues that I knew of.”