Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - BODY COUNT RISES: ANOTHER American Tourist Dead in the Dominican Republic

Episode Date: June 27, 2019

In the last hours, a Colorado dad dies in the Dominican Republic, too sick to fly home to his family. More than a dozen tourists have recently died while vacationing on the island. Delta is offering refunds for families too afraid to travel there. What is going on in the Dominican Republic?Nancy's expert panel weighs in:Judge Ashley Wilcott:   Judge and Trial attorneyDr. Michelle Dupre:     South Carolina Medical ExaminerSteven Lampley:       Former DetectiveEllen Killoran:    Crimeonline.com Investigative Reporter Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The series of deaths at luxury resorts have created confusion and raised questions about the island's safety. 55-year-old Joseph Allen of Avenel, New Jersey, was the latest death. He died in his hotel room earlier this week. The authorities have not said how. Here's what we do know. So far this year, seven tourists have died on the island of non-accidental causes. Five of them had similar symptoms of pulmonary edema, fluid in the lungs, and respiratory failure, and occurred at resorts in Punta Cana or La Romana.

What we don't know is what caused those symptoms. The FBI is conducting their own toxicology tests on three of the deaths. Two others have been deemed natural causes, both heart attacks by island medical officials. Like, I'm going to believe something an island medical official tells me when there is a growing string of deaths of American tourists in Dominican Republic, oh, no, no, and what a coinkydink that suddenly otherwise healthy people kill over with a heart attack and add their names to the list of the dead. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

What the hay is going on in the DR, the Dominican Republic. He just can't keep ignoring one death after the next. And the latest, a teen girl falls into a coma in the Dominican Republic, vacationing there as other vacationers suffer mysterious illnesses on the island. This little girl named Candela, due to return home? Uh-uh. She never made it. She became extremely ill the morning of travel. What now? Joining me, an all-star panel, Judge Ashley Wilcott. You can find her at ashleywilcott.com. Dr. Michelle Dupree, renowned medical examiner out of South Carolina and author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Former detective. You can find him at StephenLampley.com.

And joining me right now, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Ellen Killoran. Ellen, how many people are dead from vacationing in Dominican Republic? Nancy, it looks like we're looking at at least 10 deaths that were very sudden among otherwise healthy people. There have been additional reports of other deaths of people who did have pre-existing medical conditions, but right now it's at least 10 American tourists have died in the last year under questionable circumstances. I'm hearing your number of 10, but it's my understanding that two other Americans died. Now their deaths are being investigated as well. So we've got a conflicted

10 versus 12 dead Americans in the DR. Nancy, and as we're going back and forth about the death toll, that number has just gone up. Khalid Adkins of Denver, a father of two, tried to return home from the Dominican Republic on Sunday, but he of two, tried to return home from the Dominican Republic on Sunday, but he was forced to get off the plane after the airline determined that he was too sick to fly. He was taken to a hospital in Santo Domingo. He was in critical condition for three days, alone, vomiting, struggling to breathe before he died. We're still waiting for more details on the latest, but this is a very disturbing development. Oh, my stars. Ellen, what are doctors saying about it?

And I don't want to hear what some island doctor says, no offense, but I want to hear what our doctors say, because I don't know what influences those doctors in Dominican Republic may be under. Tourism is plummeting in Dominican Republic, as it should, from America after all of these deaths. And I think that there are more than what you're saying. And I know you're basing your numbers on stats and news reports. And the reason I say that, Ellen, let me just give you an example, E.K. For instance, when we have a known serial killer, let's just take Ted Bundy. You don't think there are other women out there that he has raped or murdered that have never been connected to him?

Because I do. And I think that's the case with a lot of serial killers. Just like in this case, I think there are other deaths that have occurred for the same reasons that so far have not yet linked or may never be linked to what's happening right now. But that are a result of what's happening right now, but that are a result of what's happening right now. Ellen, I'm very suspicious it's related to tainted alcohol. And I may be not as objective as Ashley. Do you remember when we spoke to the dad of a little girl? She's not a little girl. She was a teen girl. And the family had gone on vacation. She had alcohol. I think it was at a Cancun resort. We believe the alcohol was tainted

and she was found dead, almost dead in the water. She did die. And her brother suffered some of the same symptoms and was rushed to the hospital after drinking at one of the resorts. That's why, knowing that and suspicious, all of these tourists are dying. Americans are dying in Dominican Republic. Yeah, I do remember that, Nancy. And here's the thing. A, alcohol is easy to taint, right? How many times are you told, if you go out and have a drink, never, ever, ever accept a drink from someone else? Because it's so easy at any point in the process for something to

appear, be put into your drink. Second, obviously in this case, it is something, it's a common denominator. There is one source, I believe, whether it's alcohol or something else that is causing this in all of these individuals. Yeah. And what I'm getting at is not so much, you know, Stephen Lampley, help me out here. You're the detective. Stephen, I'm not getting at someone, a particular person, a nefarious individual, putting, you know, a roofie or GHB, gamma hydroxybutxybutyrate in a drink. I'm looking more at tainted alcohol in the sense that it's moonshine or in some way tainted and it's being sold as a major brand of alcohol. People drink it and then kill over.

Nancy, you're correct. If you remember back, this happens on a regular basis, it seems. If you remember back, I think it was 2017 in Mexico, we had some very similar things happen, I believe it was Cancun and Playa del Carmen, where there was some cheaper alcohol used. I believe it was back in

2017. Yep, yep, yep. And you know what? That was the case that I was talking about. You know, EK, back to Ellen Kaloran, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, did you see what Delta just announced, Ellen? I did. I just thought Delta has said that they can issue refunds to anyone who was planning on traveling to the Dominican Republic that now wants to change their plans in light of the reports of these deaths.

That is a really big deal, Ashley Wilcott, for a corporate giant like Delta to say they're going to actually give money back. No questions asked for people planning to travel to the DR. Yeah, it sure is. So it says a lot about the seriousness that everybody should take this. Why would anyone travel there right now? I wouldn't. I don't understand why people would still plan to vacation there, given what's going on. But I step huge kudos for Delta stepping up and doing the right thing. You know, I'm understanding to Ellen Kaloran. She's at Crime Online where you can find this and all other breaking crime and justice news. E.K., do the

drinks come from a mini bar or is it coming from a bar at the pool or in the hotel? Where are the drinks coming from? We know that at least three of the people who died did take a drink from a minibar. Others seem to have taken drinks from other areas of the resorts. One thing to note about what we're understanding now about the way the minibars work at these all-inclusive resorts in Dominican Republic, they're not tiny little bottles like we got here. They're larger bottles that are sort of hanging from an area where people can pour alcohol into a cup. So if there's something, if that alcohol is too strong, if it has been

tainted, it can affect someone very quickly and it can affect more than one person. I don't even know what you're saying. Alcohol hanging that you can pour. They're larger bottles. So it's more like getting kind of like a draft cocktail rather than the tiny little bottles that you would get in the in a hotel in the United States. So that if there's something wrong with one bottle, it could affect more than one traveler. Oh, oh, oh, oh, I see what you're saying. Okay, I see what you're saying. So they're just hanging there in the hotel room? Yes.

And that's where people are getting, okay. And another thing about that, Ellen Kalor, now that I can visualize it, that would be so much easier to taint. In other words, pour bootleg liquor into it as opposed to those tiny little bottles that Jackie Howard, the lush, okay, in here is talking about mini bottles. How many of those have you crammed in your pocketbook, Jackie? Okay, guys, what is happening in the Dominican Republic, the corporate giant Delta just announcing, it's giving your money back if you're planning to travel there. And they have a huge pecuniary or money interest in making a decision like that.

Take a listen to our friend Griff Jenkins at Fox. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, another mysterious death. There were six Americans in the last 12 months that have died mysteriously. Now the seventh. Barbara called John Corcoran, one of her favorite brothers, the family issuing this statement acknowledging the seventh. Barbara called John Corcoran one of her favorite brothers. The family issuing this statement acknowledging the passing. Quote, John Corcoran passed away at the end of April in the DR from what is believed to be natural causes. He loved and frequently visited the Dominican Republic.

Guys, switching gears. In the last hours, we are learning a major update in the search for a Utah student, 23-year-old Mackenzie Luke. Police, we are learning right now, are searching a home as a part of the investigation into her disappearance. We believe, according to sources, the home belongs to a person known to have texted Mackenzie before she disappears into the night. For those of you just joining us, Mackenzie is a 23-year-old Utah student there at University of Utah. She was texting with her mother about landing. She got to the airport safely. We spotted video of her, still photos of her at the airport at

the airport she catches a Lyft ride now that's where I got suspicious because she gets in the car with a Lyft driver and then BAM nobody sees her again but there are ways to verify which address she wanted to go to, right? So the Lyft driver says she wanted to go to this park-type area. She takes the Lyft car from the airport to a park located just about eight miles from her apartment. The Lyft driver says she gets out of his car happy, nothing wrong, around 3 a.m. She had a late-night flight. She did not seem to stress whatsoever that she gets into another car. Now, at the beginning, I thought that was very, very unusual and suspicious,

but police are now saying the Lyft driver has been cleared. The Lyft driver has been cleared. So listen to this. She has missed classes. She has missed flights. She has missed a wedding she was supposed to go to. Uh-uh. That's not right. We also know the 23-year-old Missing Mackenzie Luke was texting somebody as she leaves the airport shortly before she was last seen. We also believe that person she was texting is in fact cooperating with police and not considered a suspect. Is that true? I don't know, but that's what they're saying. At this hour, Salt Lake Police are saying that they are searching a home in relation to the case. The home, let me just tell you, I'm looking at it right now, is cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape.

Now, does that make that person a suspect? No, but it's never a good thing when you drive up and your home is cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape. So the search is going down. We're waiting to find out what's happening. We also know cops are delving into the college senior's social media accounts to find out who she possibly was meeting at that park. We know she's a real texter. She lives on her phone. Is there a clue in that cell phone that will lead to the missing Utah senior, Mackenzie Luke. That's what we know right now. We'll keep you updated. And now back to a look at what is happening in the Dominican Republic.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace robert wallace traveled the world with his wife friends say he worked hard and played even harder but his niece says he fell ill almost immediately after drinking a scotch from the mini bar at the hard rock hotel and casino he was dead just three days later david harrison of maryland bar at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. He was dead just three days later. David Harrison of Maryland died at the same resort last year. He and his wife had taken their 12-year-old son to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino says it is confident that all operational protocols were followed. David Harrison of Maryland died at the Bahia Principe Resort. Their death certificates list the cause for both as heart attacks,

but Sports Sister questions that. I got him doing a video. Edward Holmes and Cynthia Day were celebrating their engagement before they both died in their room at the Bahia Principe. The FBI is assisting Dominican authorities on the ground with all six deaths. Wow, you're hearing our friend Jamie Ucas at CBS News reporting on the death of Robert Wallace and at that time five other Americans in the DR Dominican Republic. These are not expats that moved from America

to seek life there. These are tourists that are hoping to head home in a week. They never make it. Joining me, Judge Ashley Wilcott. You can find her at AshleyWilcott.com. Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina medical examiner, author, homicide investigation field guide, crack detective Stephen Lampley. Find him at stephenlampley.com. And investigative reporter

Ellen Kalorn. You know, Ellen, I was really intrigued by what Dr. Tom Inglesby, he is the director at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. Look, you can't really argue with Johns Hopkins, okay? I love to argue with people, but it's kind of tough to argue with somebody from such an esteemed institution. He says that the symptoms that have been reported so far, including pulmonary edema, bleeding out, vomiting blood, are consistent with poisoning, intentional or accidental. But until toxicology reports are available, it's really difficult to definitively say what's causing our American tourists death. But he does go on. I'm going to quote him. He says it better than I could. This is Dr. Tom Inglesby, the director of Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

Quote, it's rare for travelers to die of unknown causes like this and to have a high number of them in a relatively short period of time. Alarming, shocking, sad. Now, he says he believes it's something investigators should be able to get to the bottom of. But somehow people keep dropping like flies on vacay and DR, and nobody's finding out what's going on. Now, EK, what are the symptoms these people are suffering? People are feeling burning in their throat. They're having trouble breathing. Some people have been experiencing nausea, sweating, chest pains, vomiting blood, some very, very severe symptoms that have come on very, very suddenly. You know, I'm trying to trace it all back to Dr. Michelle Dupree,

renowned medical examiner out of South Carolina, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide. Dr. Dupree, what's happening? Nancy, this is extremely concerning. This is very rare. It does definitely sound like some type of poison or toxin. One thing about the heart attack death, you know, yes, people die from heart attacks, but there is a cause for that. Usually it's a to throw around some Latin legal phrases? Because I will. Recep Salakwator, okay? Chew on that. Now, what I'm saying is, slow it down, boss lady. I don't know what you just said. What did you say about heart attack? Well, I said that when people die from heart attacks, there's a reason for it. And it could be from clogged vessels or atherosclerosis. It can be from cardiomyopathy. What is that? Okay, wait, wait. I know be from clogged vessel or atherosclerosis. It can be from cardiomyopathy. What is that? Okay, wait, wait. I know what a clogged vessel is. But what was the other thing you said? Well, the clogged vessel, the medical term is atherosclerosis. So it could be from that.

It could be from an enlarged heart. It can be from... Okay, just an aside. Why do doctors insist on saying things like whatever it is you just said, as opposed to clogged vessel, that we can all understand? You know what, never mind. I'm going to let you be you. Go ahead. Thank you for letting me be me. So when we even look at these deaths that were from a heart attack,

we still need to have a reason for that. So I wouldn't discount those as being something else involved. And again, this certainly sounds like it's some type of toxin or poison, the pulmonary edema, bleeding out. This is not, not, not common. Well, I mean, Dr. Dupree, isn't it true? I mean, every death ends in heart failure. Your heart stops beating. Heart attacks themselves, I think what you're saying in a very doctrinally way, heart attacks themselves can be called by a number of variants, including poison. You know, Ellen Killorn, I'm sure I've got the wrong visual because you know how I'm just thinking on our Disney cruises, which I love, and nobody's dying of alcohol poisoning there. Let me ask you something. When you say liquor dispensers, I imagine soap dispensers all throughout the resort the way they have on Disney cruises.

I've got a funny feeling that's not what they mean. I'm just imagining liquor dispensers all over the resort where you just, you know, walk up and, you know, like a water cooler. What do they mean by Hard Rock Hotel in Dominican Republic to remove liquor dispensers after tourist death? Well, Nancy, I don't think that your vigil is necessarily that far off. I'm not sure if they're all over, you know, every inch of the resort. Oh my goodness. The devil is happy now. Liquor dispensers, no matter where you go. Let me just tell you, Ashley Wilcott, my mother still will not go to the corner store because they started selling beer. Okay. In Macon, Georgia. Absolutely not. It is not happening. Now she will go to the parking lot and make me go in and get something for her, Georgia? Absolutely not. It is not happening. Now, she will go to the parking lot

and make me go in and get something for her, but she will not darken the threshold of the door because they sell beer on Sunday. Okay. Now, how happy is the devil right now? Because in Dominican Republic resorts, no matter where you go, there's a liquor dispenser like it's Purell. I mean, really, Ashley. So listen, I like to open a bottle of wine and have a glass out of that bottle. But I have to tell you, even doing that, I am not one to believe that a liquor dispenser where someone has poured liquor into something where you can freely dispense of it wherever you walk in the hotel is a good plan. Again, is something nefarious afoot and a person is doing this? Probably not. But it does add to the concern I have that they just have liquor dispensers where anything could end up in that liquor. OK, my fearless leader, Jason Kopp, is sending me a picture right now of a liquor dispenser.

He just happens to have one with him, a photo of that. E, tell me about the liquor dispensers at Hard Rock. We understand these are large bottles of alcohol where you can just press a button or put a cup against it, sort of like a water cooler, and you get alcohol from it. Okay, Jason Kopp, thank you. Here is, quote, liquor dispenser in my room. I assume that's your room, Jason. Picture of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Wow, look at that. It looks like, okay, Jack, now I understand what you're saying, Ellen Kaloran. There, there's a cabinet with a glass front, and inside you can see different kinds of liquors. Let me just see what all they've got. They claim they have, there's wine, Ron Barcello, I don't, I don't know these names, vodka, all sorts of things. They're hanging upside down like an IV bag. Then they have a little spout on them connected to their neck. And the spout comes out of the bottom of the cabinet, where you can see what you're

getting, but you just kind of turn the spout. Wow. Okay, now I see how it works. Okay, E.K., let me go back to you on this. Tell me about what hard rock is. Tell me about hard rock removing these. Yes, the hard rock, which has been the location of a few of these thefts, in Punta Cana, has said that they are going to remove the alcohol dispensers, but they added a caveat saying this has nothing to do, of course, with anything that's happened, but we're just going to go ahead and remove them.

Take a listen to our friend Stefan Holt at WNBC-TV. First-time authorities are telling us what they believe happened to a couple from Westchester County that went missing in the Dominican Republic. Police say they are confident a body found in the Caribbean Sea this week is, in fact, Orlando Moore. Dominican authorities say he and his girlfriend, Portia Ravenel, were drinking before getting behind the wheel. They were driving to the airport to catch a flight home on March 27th. Investigators think they made a wrong turn after going through a highway toll. The car then went off the road, smashing into a tree before plunging into the choppy sea. Ravenel was able to get out of the car but died a few days later. Dominican police

say they don't expect foul play and that they are working with the FBI. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Another tropical vacation ending in tragedy for an American tourist. The maid opens the door, screams, slams the door. My brother's on the floor, dead. The body of 55-year-old Joseph Allen of New Jersey found last Thursday. He just taught me so many things about being a man. He was selfless. His

brother says he skipped dinner that night after telling friends he was traveling with he wasn't feeling well. Allen was staying at the Terralinda Resort where he had stayed many times before. NBC News reached out to the resort for comment but has yet to hear any response. Allen is the ninth American to have died under mysterious circumstances while visiting the island in the past 18 months. So far, the deaths have not been connected. But the popular tourist destination's food and beverage safety now under a microscope. You're hearing our friend NBC's Morgan Chesky reporting about Joseph Allen from New Jersey found unresponsive, now dead. When will it end and what is happening tourism in dominican republic

plummets after americans die in the island nation in the past year this is after analyzing over 17 million flight bookings a day cancellations rampant in the last hours. Delta announces it's giving back your money if you want to get out of going to Dominican Republic. And amazingly, a public safety report I'm getting from the Washington Post says the Dominican Republic death autopsies are now showing similarities for at least three of the victims. We're waiting for the other autopsies to be compared. All three of these victims experienced oddly similar symptoms and internal trauma before their deaths.

Okay, they had internal hemorrhaging, pulmonary edema, and enlarged hearts. To Dr. Michelle Dupree, South Carolina medical examiner, author of Homicide Investigation Field Guide, can you break that down for me? What would cause multiple people to have enlarged hearts, hemorrhaging internally, and pulmonary edema? What is pulmonary edema? Pulmonary edema is actually fluid in the lungs and that can come from many causes. Drug or toxicology is certainly one of those. The rest of these symptoms in this combination are really very odd. Internal trauma or bleeding out, that's rare. That could be something like arsenic or rat poisoning. It can be all sorts of things. This is extremely concerning with so many autopsies, three showing similar conditions. But pulmonary edema, fluid on the lungs,

can be caused for a lot of different reasons. My dad had that when he passed away. So he was not vacationing at Dominican Republic. Question, what can make you get fluid on the lungs, congestive heart failure? Most of the time that comes when the heart doesn't pump the way that it should and fluid backs up. That can come from heart failure. It can come from drug overdoses. It can come from infection and such as that. So yes, there are a number of causes and several things would definitely need to be ruled out. Okay, let me understand something to you, Ellen Kaloran.

These are three of the toxicology reports, and I'm learning that from Washington Post. What about the other toxicology reports? Well, that's the thing, Nancy. We have so many more questions than we have answers on this. The autopsies have largely been completed in the Dominican Republic. And families of the people who died have said publicly that they disagree strongly with some of the claims that are being made. And it does seem like authorities in the Dominican Republic are dragging their feet about toxicology and that the FBI has needed to get involved in order to get blood samples from some of the people who died under mysterious circumstances. Now, Stephen Lampley, you can find him at StephenLampley.com, crack detective. That's making me mad because the Dominican Republic,

as E.K. says, dragging their feet. I got another word for it, hiding information, hiding information, suppressing information about dead Americans. Now, we might not know these 12 victims. We may have never heard their names, but I guarantee you they have a family just like I do and just like you do. It'll be a cold day, you you know where before I go to the Dominican Republic but that's just me. Some people may not be worried about it. I am. No way am I going to take my twins or let my husband if I could stop him from going there. Stephen Lampley what does this mean? How do you drag your feet on toxicology reports? Did you hear what EK just said the FBI is having to get involved?

Nancy, the FBI has. And, of course, their job, one of their many tasks, is to protect American citizens, even abroad, that really took an effect like in the mid-1980s. So they have become involved, and I understand they have gotten several blood samples and have returned them to Quantico. But it's going to take several weeks before we know anything from that.

But I agree. I will not be going to the Dominican Republic. influence the doctors are having on these medical exams, on these toxicology reports, to keep it quiet so they don't interrupt their tourism. Guys, when I'm saying each of these victims have a family, listen to our friend NBC's Morgan Chesky. I thought something's not right. My father's a healthy 78-year-old. Jerry Curran died in January, falling ill after dinner and drinks at the Dreams Resort in Punta Cana. That resort stressed their standards, saying in a statement, guest room minibars are only stocked with sealed bottles of liquor, which are purchased from a single license and bonded vendor.

Less than two years ago, Dominican authorities shut down five labs manufacturing alcohol, seizing over 100 tanks of product unsuitable for human consumption. The U.S. State Department has declined to comment on reports that tainted alcohol could be responsible for any of the American deaths. You know, when I'm hearing that story, it just breaks my heart. When she says her dad was a healthy 78-year-old, I have those same feelings. Remember Ashley Wilcott when my dad passed away? I know he was in his 80s, but he and I exercised together all the time.

I had to run to keep up with him when he walked fast. We would dance together. We'd go on vacations together. I would drag him and my mom to be with me and David and the twins all the time. He never complained. Very healthy. So when you hear 78, there's a big difference between somebody sitting in a rest home and someone active and up and about to suddenly fall ill. You see what I mean, Ashley? Oh yeah. So my mother's 84. She does yoga every day. She does headstands. She's in better health than I've probably ever been. So I agree with you.

It's two very different things. And age doesn't mean that they're not active and energetic and out there enjoying life. You know, what can you tell me? You guys are going to shudder when you hear this. Ellen Kaloran about traces of insecticide. There is a million dollar lawsuit brought by a very young couple against the Bahia Principe, which is where we have other deaths happening. And they have said that they have seen a doctor after Kaylin had very severe symptoms of nausea, blurry vision, and when she returned, her family doctor told her that she had been exposed to a toxic insecticide.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Tonight, the State Department monitors yet another investigation of an American tourist who died in the Dominican Republic and whose family is asking questions. Just a day after her 53rd birthday, Layla Cox, a radiologist from New York, died from what officials say was a heart attack. But her son claims she was healthy. It's been a nonstop nightmare just trying to get her body and her remains back, trying to get answers. This after at least eight American deaths in the last 12 months at different resorts across the island. Families all around America asking questions.

Nobody can give me a solid answer on how she passed away. Everything is being misdirected and mis-skewed. I get new information every single day. It was just two weeks ago when Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Day, seen here kayaking on the island, were both found dead in a DR resort. Autopsies performed on the island said they died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. The husband of Miranda Werner says she died after drinking from a mini bar in her room. He and the relatives of Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Day now wait for toxicology results.

Officials there saying there is no evidence so far that the deaths are connected and are urging tourists not to rush to judgment while these investigations unfold. Right. Don't rush to judgment. Dead bodies, all American tourists in the Dominican Republic. You're hearing from our friend Gio Benitez at ABC News. But what says the Dominican minister of health? Listen. Scientific. There's no speculation.

It's not speculation.'s information scientific Dr. Rafael Sanchez Cardenas says medical reports show the recent American tourist deaths in the country are not related CBS News was able to look at the records the minister insists that the autopsies performed on at least eight Americans who died this year showed they had at least one pre-existing condition from morbid obesity to hypertension at least eight Americans who died this year showed they had at least one pre-existing condition from morbid obesity to hypertension. At least five died of similar symptoms. What do we have here? Tourists who arrive with pre-existing conditions and die in this country as they do in all countries. Okay. Somebody had hypertension. Somebody was overweight. What is that, like 50% of our

population? Dr. Michelle Dupree, how would that explain insecticide being in some of the victim's bodies? It does not. It does not at all explain that. Insecticide in someone's body has nothing to do with whether they're overweight or any other pre-existing conditions. That is something that is extraneous or should not be there. Well, take a listen to our friends at CBS News. Cesar Duvernay, spokesperson for the DR Foreign Ministry. A tropical paradise in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic is a tourist destination to 6.6 million vacationers a year. Cesar Duvernay is a spokesperson for the Dominican Foreign Ministry and insists the deaths are unrelated and isolated. What do you say to Americans who feel that it is unsafe to visit here?

More than 6 million people visited, and most of them North Americans, so we don't think it's a good representation. The country is very safe, and the best thing they can do is just to lay out the numbers and the facts. There were two other deaths with similar symptoms at those same resorts last year. The U.S. Embassy here in Santo Domingo says at this point there is no proof that any of these deaths are in fact related. Okay, if there's not a problem, why are they not handing over the autopsies and all of the information? What about that, Steve Lampley? Well, you and I agree. There's an immense amount of pressure to make these cases not related.

But if you go back and look at these, the first six of these deaths, and going all the way back to 2016, six of these deaths all happened in one city. And then the next three all happened in another city. This is not random. This is not a bunch of tourists coming to a country, visiting, having fun, and randomly dying off. This is not random. You know, another issue is, if these are all natural causes, why are hotels and casinos suddenly removing those replaceable liquor dispensers? Take a listen to our friends at CNN. A New York area man has died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.

56-year-old Vittorio Caruso, the 10th American tourist to die there in the past year. Caruso's family was told he died of respiratory distress and possibly a heart attack. Dominican officials are struggling to reassure worried tourists the deaths are isolated events. Meantime, the Hard Rock Hotel in Putacana says it's removing those liquor dispensers from guest room minibars. It says the decision has nothing to do with two deaths that occurred there. Nothing to do at all with the deaths. I find that really hard to believe. In the last hours, Delta Airlines announces money back if you want to get out of your trip to the Dominican Republic.

Ellen Kaloran, what more can you tell me? Nancy, I think it's really important to note that some of the claims that are being made in these preliminary autopsy reports are not at all matching what the families are saying about medical histories. There's a woman in her 50s from Staten Island, her family said she was totally healthy, Layla Cox. And Dominican authorities have said that her preliminary autopsy showed that she had previous heart attacks. Her family says, no, she didn't. Another preliminary report obtained by Fox News for Joseph Allen, another man in his 50s from New Jersey, says that he was a ticking time bomb and he had the body of an 80-year-old.

I've read a few autopsy reports, and that's not language that I typically see in them. You know, another thing, how can it be a natural death when a husband and wife are both found dead in their hotel resort room? And that was at the Grand Principe La Romana Resort in Dominican Republic. I'm talking about Daniel Edward Holmes and Cynthia Ann Holmes. Both of them dead, according to the autopsy, respiratory failure, and as Dr. Michelle Dupree says, fluid accumulation in the lungs, edema. Another one, I think it was Cynthia, also had cerebral edema. Okay, what's that?

What's cerebral edema? Fluid on your brain, Dr. Dupree? Exactly. That's exactly what it is. And again, all of this is very suspicious. One thing that I'd like to point out is when autopsy are done and toxicology is requested, a battery of tests are done for toxins and poisons, but those are standard in most cases. looking for. There are other things, heavy metals, exotic drugs and things like that, that will not be detected if we don't know to ask for them. And this is what's concerning to me. You know, and another thing, I wish you could see them, Ashley Wilcott, judge, trial lawyer, you can find her at ashleywilcott.com. I'm looking at Nathaniel Edward Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day. She's just 49.

Now, they're not skinny, but they're just normal. They're normal weight. And there they are posing on the back of a boat with the ocean behind them, all happy in Dominican Republic. They're both found dead in their hotel room, their luxury resort hotel room. How can that be natural causes for both of them to die? Well, I think that's the issue. So if you have one person that seems healthy, you hear all the time about super healthy athletes that do have a heart attack with no history and do pass away.

If you had one person, maybe too unrelated, that might be plausible. But where there's smoke, there's fire. There are too many. And like you said, for both of them, not think all of these individuals had heart attacks. And what did the DR, Dominican Republic, have to say about a 49-year-old woman in the prime of her life? She's obviously happy and healthy, big smile on her face out on the ocean on the back of an outboard. I mean, EK, what'd they say about her? Natural causes? The Ministry of Public Health spokesman said in an interview that Cynthia Day probably died of heart attack recently engaged dead next to her. Okay, hold on just a moment. Let me let that sink in. What did you just say? She died of shock, he says. Okay, you know what? Them saying that about Cynthia Day,

if you could see her happy, smiling face out, loving life with her fiancé out on the ocean, having a great time, healthy, exuberant, and they say she died of shock. To me, that taints every single thing the Dominican Republic is saying. I want answers. And don't you know, the families of these dead Americans want answers, too. We wait as justice unfolds.

Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend.