Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Two Teens Found Dead in Cottage Mystery

Episode Date: March 13, 2026

Cherish Bean, 15, and her boyfriend, Ethan Slater, 17, were on a trip in February 2026 at a holiday park when they passed away after going to bed in a cottage called the "mancave." Humberside Police in the United Kingdom launched an investigation and arrested four men on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. But, the men were released on bail. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy looks at why the men are suspected and how police believe Cherish and Ethan died in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: Nick Brett https://x.com/brettwilsonllp/CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A vacation getaway turns deadly for two teens staying at a cottage and four men are arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, only to be released soon after. What really happened to Cherish Bean and Ethan Slater? I'll tell you everything investigators say led to their mysterious deaths. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Cherish Bean and Ethan Slater were a cute teenage couple. Cherish was 15 and Ethan was 17. Photos on social media showed them having the time of their lives. But in February, their lives came to a sudden end when they were on vacation, staying in a cottage. Cherish and Ethan went to sleep and never woke up. Their families are devastated, losing two people, just teenagers at such a young age. Police are investigating and four men have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, but they have been released.

This story takes us to the United Kingdom and a community called Bridlington. Ethan and Cherish were staying at the Little Eden Holiday Park in a rental unit. There was a call about what police called a safety concern on February 18th. Police and EMTs went to the rental and found Ethan and Cherish. They had passed away. Young people, especially teenagers, don't just pass away unless something is very, very wrong. Humberside police detectives immediately launched an investigation and they took one man into custody. Police said it was a 33-year-old man, and a day after his arrest, police asked for

an extension to detain him a little while longer. Police suspected early on that Cherish and Ethan had died from carbon monoxide poisoning, so why arrest anyone? More on that very shortly. Then a second person, a 42-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. The investigation into Ethan and Cherish's deaths continued, and then a few days. after they died, a 27-year-old man was arrested on the same charge as the others, gross negligence manslaughter. Police said as the investigation continued the other two men had been released on bail with conditions. Then came the autopsy results. Detective Chief Inspector Ben Robinson said in a statement, I can now confirm that post-mortem examinations had taken place yesterday Sunday,

February 22nd, which have returned an inconclusive result, and further testing is required to determine the cause of Cherish and Ethan's death. So that means that they are waiting on toxicology results. At that point, the three men that had been arrested had all been released on bail. The statement from DCI, Ben Robinson, added, while the medical cause of death has not yet been formally confirmed, carbon monoxide poisoning remains a primary line of inquiry. We are carefully reviewing and analyzing all evidence gathered to ensure we establish the full circumstances in the lead-up to and surrounding these deaths. A coroner's inquest was held, and new information about the investigation was revealed. The BBC reported that testimony at that inquest revealed that Cherish left the main

family lodge before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, February 17th, for a smaller cabin called the Man Cave, where she was staying with Ethan. But then Cherish returned to her. her mom complaining of a headache. So her mom gave her some medication, according to the BBC, and she went back to her cabin, texting her mom saying, good night, I love you. The coroner testified that Ethan also returned to the man cave under similar circumstances. The next morning, the two were found dead. DCI Robinson testified at the coroner's inquest that a boiler for the cottage where Ethan and Cherish had been staying was seized and forensically examined. A little later, We'll hear how Cherish his mom is remembering her.

But first, I'd like to bring in Nick Brett. He is a partner at Brett Wilson in London. And he specializes in criminal litigation. Nick, thank you so much for coming on to discuss this. Yeah, this is a, thanks for coming on. It's a tragic, tragic case to young people. Very sad. Passing away like this.

Yeah, it's just tragic. They had their whole lives ahead of them, just kids. Tell me if you would, how unusual is this to have a case where we have two young people? It sounds like they believe that they passed away, Cherish and Ethan, of carbon monoxide poisoning. And they've taken four people into custody and charged them on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. So talk to me about what that means in England. Well, they have been, I think four people have been arrested and have been released on conditional police bail. So that means they haven't yet been charged.

And I understand that a coroner's inquest was opened and the post-mortem examinations are inconclusive at the moment. But certainly, as you say, carbon monoxide poisoning is suspected. I don't know at the present time the identity of the individuals that have been arrested, but there are four men. One, because this took place at a holiday site, one can only speculate that the people that have been arrested or in some way either the owners or other employees or responsible for management at the site.

And, you know, as you say, the tragic death of these two young people appears to certainly, it appears to be suspected that it's linked to a faulty boiler which may have caused some form of carbon monoxide poisoning. So yes, it's a tragic situation and these men, I mean, presently there is a police investigation ongoing. We have here in Britain a public authority called the Health and Safety Executive, who are responsible for making and enforcing laws around public safety. And they will obviously be involved in an investigation, which is a complex one.

I think there's going to be further post-mortem examinations and that, you know, if it's like to take some time, I would think, until we get to the bottom of exactly what's happened. So let's break that down a little bit because obviously things are done differently in the United States. It's similar, but different than in the United States. So they've been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. So essentially does that mean they were brought in and detained, maybe questioned, but then they're not charged criminally, but they're released on bail. Explain that to me because in the United States, you would only get bail if you were charged. No, the police investigations in Britain take a long time.

certainly these days police resources are relatively limited and the police have power to grant bail to suspects and so they bring them in they question them and then they release them with an obligation to come back to the police station usually on sort of three-month cyclical periods up to a nine-month maximum, after which has to be authorised by a court, even though that we're in a pre-charge situation. And so really what that does is meaning the suspect is obliged to go back to the police station and has to comply sometimes with conditions about, you know, sometimes, for example, not to leave the country, surrender their passport, you know, depending on the nature of the alleged defence. Interesting. So not.

formally charged, but gross negligence manslaughter. I mean, that sounds pretty serious. That means you were really negligent. You failed to do something properly. And it seems like it's all about this boiler. And there's something about this boiler that's making the police think with four people. And we know that maybe one is a maintenance guy, maybe who knows, who knows, who the other people are. Maybe it's like a higher up at the at the holiday park. Owners, yeah, possibly. Yeah, because they range in age from like 27 to like in their 40s.

So who knows exactly the hierarchy there. But it must be pretty egregious. If you're willing to arrest four people on the suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, like this thing must have been just leaking or whatever and you know, and you knew about it and did nothing. I mean, that's essentially what the suspicion is, I'm assuming. Well, you've hit the nail on the head, Anthony. I mean, it's exactly what gross negligence man's daughter is.

So what they need to prove is, you know, obviously, firstly, somebody has died. Secondly, that there is negligence, so there's a duty of care, and that there has been a breach of that duty of care, and that that breach of duty of care has caused the negligence. But also in order to make it a criminal issue, that negligence needs to be really serious. So that's why it's called gross negligence manslaughter. So if there was a criminal trial, a jury would need to decide that the negligence itself was really serious. And obviously we don't at the moment know precisely what's happened here.

but if one is responsible for renting to the public holiday homes and shallets and other living spaces, then it would be expected that those that have a duty of care over those individuals to whom they're hiring have taken the appropriate steps to ensure that those spaces are safe. In the United States, there are some states that do coroner's inquests. So are coroner's inquests in London, in England, in the United Kingdom, are those fairly common? I mean, does that happen often during death investigations? Does this happen like in every homicide case? Always.

Wherever there is any death, which is suspicious in any way, where there is any suggestion of fault, where there is any death that has been located in some form of publicly owned environment. So wherever there is suspicion, then an inquest will be opened. And usually it's then closed quite quickly and then reopen much later once the coroner is in possession of. all the relevant facts. Well, this one's been kind of delayed because my assessment of this is that they're waiting for the toxicology results. In the United States, that can take a really long time.

That can take like eight to 12 weeks, sometimes longer. Does it take a long time in England? Yes, it does. I mean, I think from what I've read that the initial post-mortem examinations are inconclusive And so either they have gone for a second opinion. And so they're going to go to a different pathologist to see if a different pathologist can come up with some answers or they have decided that they need to run more specialist tests

and as you identify possibly toxicological tests, which may not have been implemented in the first post-mortem. And so I don't know anything more than you do other than that these first tests were inconclusive. And as you say, it's likely to be a number of weeks, I think, until we understand precisely what the results of those examinations will be. And just to explain to the viewers and the listeners, a coroner's inquest is essentially where testimony is taken,

questions are asked of the coroner and the investigators to investigate the cause of death. Am I right? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So a coroner tends to be usually a solicitor or other legal professional that's been appointed in a particular area to be the coroner. And his or her duty is to investigate the cause of death. And sometimes, kind of depending on what the circumstances are, a coroner's inquest can take place in front of a jury. And a jury can make a decision as to whether or not or to what is the cause of the court. cause of death, you know, whether that cause of death may be unlawful or whether or not it may be unexplained or some other cause of death and runs independently, obviously, of any criminal investigation that may take place. So once this resumes and once they have the final cause of death, because right now this is

what their suspicion is, they suspect carbon monoxide point. poisoning. And I assume that they suspect that because they probably went in. You have two young people. Young people don't just die. That's just, it doesn't happen. And they went in, they see them laying there. They passed away in their sleep. And they probably see no evidence of illicit drug use. And I'm assuming, you know, the fire department or whomever walked in and had one of those monitors, you know, they can test for that. you know, and see what the carbon monoxide level is in the cottage. And so that might be why they're suspecting this, along with the fact that Cherish had a headache and reported that to her mother. So once they have that in hand, they'll go back to reopen the inquest, present that evidence, and then will criminal charges be formally filed?

Yeah, I mean, I think you're absolutely right, Antoinette. I mean, you know, usually, they're you know the police and other investigating authorities and possibly in this case the health and safety executive will have good reason to because of what they may have found and as you say they may have monitors they may have been relying on their own sense of smell and taste they'll have made some initial conclusion as to why two young people, otherwise healthy, have suddenly died together. And, you know, obviously there is a concern that something in the space in which they were staying was not functioning properly. Now, in terms of how long it will take, I mean, what will happen is that the police will

undertaking investigation. They may be assisted by other authorities and they'll gather evidence, which will include evidence from the postmortems and from any toxicological tests. And they will then go eventually once they've concluded all their lines of investigation to include speaking to witnesses, speaking to suspects. They'll go to what's called the Crown Prosecution Service, for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide. Whether or not there is an evidential basis, for prosecution. And as you quite rightly pointed out earlier on in the show, you know,

gross negligence manslaughter, you know, really does require a fairly high standard. And so in order in these circumstances, if we are right, say a faulty boiler was responsible here, you know, the circumstances around how that boiler came to be faulty

and how it came to be, and how that property came to be let with that faulty. boiler within it will be factored into whether or not the Crown Prosecution Service believe that they would be able to get home if you want to put it in that way before a jury in a in a prosecution or whether in fact this is something that fall short of um of criminal wrongdoing um but rather is something that will only really be heard in the context of a coroner's inquest with the coroner making determination as to liability on a on a standard less than the criminal standard.

Interesting. So the Crown Prosecution Service, once all of the evidence is in, may say we can't prove this case. And it may turn out maybe this is more of a civil matter. Exactly. Exactly. I mean, you know, in order for it to be criminal matter, the negligence needs to be of a particularly egregious standard in order for it to warrant criminal liability. So there would need to have been, I suppose, I mean, you know, all cases are decided on their own facts, but, you know, there would perhaps need to be some level of knowledge that the boiler was faulty and a and a, and a, um, a decision in any event to carry on letting out the premises, even though, you know, you knew or ought to have known that the boiler was faulty.

I mean, I suppose if one wants to make a comparison, you know, you could look at the terrible fire that happened in the Swiss Ski Resort Cromontana, where, you know, particularly inflammable, substance was not properly tested over a number of years. And that standard, it may well mean that the failings of those officials warrant criminal investigation. So it's a similar kind of situation, but all these situations are fact-specific. Yeah. Well, it's a tragedy.

These poor young people, it's so serious. sad to me. I'm just like, why, why, why? You know, it's like, it's just awful. It's just terrible. It's just terrible. And my heart goes out to their families. It's just sad. We'll keep an eye on it. Nick Brett, thank you so much for joining us and offering your time and your expertise. Thanks very much for having me on the show. Thank you, Angelina. Cherish his mother released a statement and Humberside Police shared it with the media. It reads, Ethan was the most beautiful young man to walk the earth. He was, was generous, loving, charming, and kind. He would help anyone and was a strong family man. He took care of

himself and loved his mom, stepdad, brothers, and sister. There's not one person who would dislike him, even if they tried. His smile was contagious, and he could light up any room he walked into. Ethan, you will always be remembered for the amazing young man you were and the one you were destined to be. We hope you know how loved you are, our boy. Rest well and keep the table warm for us up there. Cherish was the apple of Ethan's eye. Everyone could see how smitten they both were. She was beautiful, elegant, and made Ethan happy. We know you will keep each other young and safe. Look after each other. Rest in peace. Again, the investigation is ongoing and a GoFundMe has been set up to pay for the funeral expenses. of both Ethan and Cherish.

And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. Remember, you can always watch us on YouTube, and you can also watch and listen to us on Spotify. I'll see you back here next time.