Mexico - Arlington TX Firefighter Elijah Snow, wed anniversary found dead at Cancun resort, Jul 2021

[TexLil]

Such a tremendously sad and odd case. One idea... perhaps he was running from someone, saw a window and tried to get inside? Perhaps the window being to a bathroom wasn't relavent. Perhaps he wasn't even being chased but in an inebriated state he thought he was?

MOO

Just trying to understand what happened. I'm leaning toward a tragic accident fueled by alcohol and /or drugs.

MOO

Ps In the Daily Mail article it's very odd how the family friend says they had a nice vacation but..

MOO

 

[PoppyJune]

I’d love to see the toxicology report. Did he ingest something (by choice or inadvertently) that made him have hallucinations? What was his typical character when he’d been drinking? Was he the sleep walking type?

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I hope that they took blood to do a drug and alcohol screening on him. Something is really off. The DM article states that his body was completely bruised.

I am envisioning a pool bathroom with the main doors being locked and a vent window being open. Was that what he was trying to fit through?? Those are usually higher. How would he even get that high? Did he stack up pool chairs??

As far as the friend stating that they had a nice vacation, perhaps, they didn't hear about the tragedy until they returned home. To say that it was a murder is a bit much, though. She doesn't know what happened.

I wonder if we will hear anything else about this case.

JMO.

 

[laclark17]

Perhaps it wasn't a bathroom in a hotel room but a public bathroom in the hotel, like in a lobby or bar. Maybe even a staff bathroom etc?

 

[anonypotomous]

I wonder the family will have an autopsy and tox done here in the US now that they have brought his body back.

 

[annpats]

I wonder what the result of the Mexican toxicology report said.....?

Also, don't you think someone should've heard him trying to get I to this room, shouting for help etc. ?

Or at least seen him? Other vacationers, or even hotel staff? Surely security should've noticed?

It just feels a bit like he was neglected....

 

[SeekingJana]

I wonder what the result of the Mexican toxicology report said.....?

Also, don't you think someone should've heard him trying to get I to this room, shouting for help etc. ?

Or at least seen him? Other vacationers, or even hotel staff? Surely security should've noticed?

It just feels a bit like he was neglected....

Once he was stuck in the open window, which is where the Mexican authorities say he died, he had no way to yell for help. His chest was being squeezed and he could no longer breathe. Manual Asphyxiation from the coroner tells us this is how he died. Likely, all the bruising was a combo of trying to get into the window while possibly inebriated, and damage to major blood vessels in the abdomen and pelvis from the compression pressure.

I believe he went to the back of a building and somehow opened a low window ( first floor) for some reason, which may never be explained or released to the public, and died, stuck in the window. Likely, he was found half in and half out, with his head, neck, and arms inside the room he was trying to enter and angled downward towards the floor. He could have definitely have sustained bruising all over from what he was trying to do in the middle of the night, likely in the dark, and likely not sober. Such a sad mistake.

 

[modesty blaise]

Was the room occupied??

 

[SeekingJana]

<modsnip>

Mr. Snow was on vacation with his wife, because it was their 10th anniversary. He was not there to cause trouble, and I'm sure he didn't mean to die there.

 

[anonypotomous]

<modsnip>

Mr. Snow was on vacation with his wife, because it was their 10th anniversary. He was not there to cause trouble, and I'm sure he didn't mean to die there.

Thank you for saying this, and for having the kind of compassion a thread like this deserves.

 

[Ssschu]

Trying to catch-up, don't think I missed anyone that brought this up: Mr. Stew and I vacationed in Cancun area in late April this year, and due to the COVID rules, all nightclubs and bars must be closed by 11:00pm, even in resorts/all inclusives. When we were there Quintana Roo was under the Yellow tier of restrictions. In early May it was moved up to Orange tier restrictions (even more restrictions)

So, that leaves me wondering where Mr. Snow was between 11:00pm and when he was found in the morning.

This is excellent info. He could have decided to stay out past COVID curfew at the resort. Maybe he went to the beach to drink some more, got drunk and disoriented, and tried to sneak back into the wrong hotel so he didn't get in trouble for breaking the rules.

I also think no bruising on his face supports him accidentally getting stuck in the window as strange as it sounds. Surveillance video should be able to quickly rule foul play in or out. Sad for this family!

 

[SeekingJana]

Per the U.K. Daily Mail, as has already been reported here, the Mexican authorities say his body was found in a window in the resort next to his resort.

Wouldn't the resorts have a night staff near or at the lighted front entrance? Everywhere I've ever been has a 24 hour lighted lobby, concierge, and full night staff.

It seems to me that the thing to do if drinking, or perhaps ill from " bad booze", with some disorientation present, would to be to go to the lighted area and ask for help.
Are the resorts in Cancun staffed like others in the world at night? Thanks in advance.

 

[Satchie]

I think one factor here is that Mexican police don't speak English, nor is there anything called victim services. The US embassy doesn't want to tread on anyone's toes by taking sides, so they are standoffish. All the private investigator did, IMO, was offer bribes to see what info someone would steal for him.

In my view, in Mexico it really wouldn't be seen as police business to figure out how a tourist ended up where he was: they ruled out foul play, and that's it as far as they're concerned. They have more pressing matters to deal with.

This isn't like the US, where money is no object, and police have big budgets to run tox screens, or spare staff to piece together all his movements from security cameras, and package it up for a caring presentation to try to persuade this extremely suspicious family.

The hotels probably don't want to get involved because they know it will inevitably mean a lawsuit against them.

I don't know who's going to take responsibility for trying to persuade the family it wasn't murder. I hope they are able and will to pay American pathologists to run the tests and perhaps get the written forensic reports translated and explained to them.

 

[scdiv]

I wonder if he was walking back on the beach side and got disoriented and confused. (As opposed to walking through the resort/lobby/etc.)

 

[MimosaMornings]

I wonder if he was walking back on the beach side and got disoriented and confused. (As opposed to walking through the resort/lobby/etc.)

The two resorts don’t look similar, if he was so intoxicated that he got the two places mixed up, how was he able to walk?
It’s very strange.

 

[scdiv]

It was their first night at the hotel so maybe he didn't have a sense of his bearings yet? No idea.

Weird but true story - I was once on a work trip staying at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta in the CNN Center. Checked in, immediately left and went out to find something to eat. It just happens to be the night that Ashton Kutcher decides to play a prank on CNN and cover up the name on the building with a banner that had his twitter handle name Aplusk - over CNN's logo. I of course have absolutely no idea what is going on or what aplusk means or that it's a prank. I had a drink or two or three in me and all I know is that I'm trying to get back to my hotel and I'm looking for the big CNN neon logo and I don't see it, so I end up walking around trying to find the Omni and end up at a hotel nearby. (This is 2009 so before the days of GPS and using google on a cell phone.)

Obviously that's not what has happened here, but I only share this as I had literally checked in my hotel an hour before this happened, then left, had several drinks, and without being able to use the big CNN Center marking as my reference, ended up in another hotel lobby. I had just checked in and just didn't have enough sense of what my hotel looked like to realize I was walking into the wrong one. I figured I could just look for the big neon sign to get home and when that was no longer obvious, I had no idea where I was even though I was pretty nearby.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

So many questions. Did he have a tab? What did he drink? Did he pay his final bill? At what time?

There are no charges at all inclusive resorts. I would assume that he tipped the bartender if he had cash on him.

 

[ttcRider]

I've been to all inclusives in a few different countries and there are always a few who go way past their drinking limits bc its 'free'. People that wouldnt normal even have a drink. It always ends up ugly. I can totally see how something like this would happen. IMO

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

It was their first night at the hotel so maybe he didn't have a sense of his bearings yet? No idea.

Weird but true story - I was once on a work trip staying at the Omni Hotel in Atlanta in the CNN Center. Checked in, immediately left and went out to find something to eat. It just happens to be the night that Ashton Kutcher decides to play a prank on CNN and cover up the name on the building with a banner that had his twitter handle name Aplusk - over CNN's logo. I of course have absolutely no idea what is going on or what aplusk means or that it's a prank. I had a drink or two or three in me and all I know is that I'm trying to get back to my hotel and I'm looking for the big CNN neon logo and I don't see it, so I end up walking around trying to find the Omni and end up at a hotel nearby. (This is 2009 so before the days of GPS and using google on a cell phone.)

Obviously that's not what has happened here, but I only share this as I had literally checked in my hotel an hour before this happened, then left, had several drinks, and without being able to use the big CNN Center marking as my reference, ended up in another hotel lobby. I had just checked in and just didn't have enough sense of what my hotel looked like to realize I was walking into the wrong one. I figured I could just look for the big neon sign to get home and when that was no longer obvious, I had no idea where I was even though I was pretty nearby.

Heck, this happened to me in broad daylight when I was sober! We were at an all inclusive resort in Mexico. I usually just follow along and don't pay much attention. A few of the buildings look alike.

Well, while my husband was playing pool volleyball, I wanted to go back to the room. I couldn't figure out where it was. I asked people who worked there, but they didn't speak English. I had one heck of a time finding the right building. This was a small resort. I can only imagine it being at night and if I had been drinking. Yikes.

One of my speculations was him going to the lobby of the wrong resort and being told that he didn't have a reservation there and that he had to leave. Being disoriented, he didn't know what to do.

Perhaps, he tried to get into a closed pool restroom for the night and got stuck. Apparently, nobody was around.

I just can't figure out where he was for hours on end. I figure that his phone plan may not have included Mexico. So, he wouldn't have been able to use it down there. What a nightmare. My husband always has the Mexico plan through his work phone. I don't have that plan on my phone. So, I am out of luck where it is concerned.

JMO.

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I've been to all inclusives in a few different countries and there are always a few who go way past their drinking limits bc its 'free'. People that wouldnt normal even have a drink. It always ends up ugly. I can totally see how something like this would happen. IMO

I thought about him over-imbibing when he might not do so at home because they had two young kids. Plus, at a lot of Mexican places, they push the Tequila. We go to the resorts down there quite a bit. I sometimes wonder how people can handle all of the drinking that goes on.

JMO.