The minister of health in the Dominican Republic has said there is nothing suspicious about the recent spate of deaths among American tourists who have not returned home from vacations to the popular Caribbean tourist spot.
Dr. Rafael Sanchez Cardenas, the health minister, told CBS News that autopsies performed on eight people who died in the Dominican Republic this year show that they all had some type of pre-existing condition.
“What do we have here? Tourists who arrive with pre-existing conditions and die in this country as they do in all countries,” Cardenas told the news station, noting that the conditions included hypertension and diabetes. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Fox News obtained a preliminary autopsy report for Joseph Allen, 55, which described him as a “ticking time bomb” and said he weighed 4oo pounds with a “biological age” of 80.
But Allen’s family members told NJ.com that he was physically active and had recently had a physical before taking the trip. The family is questioning whether Allen had ingested something that led to his untimely death.
The son of Leyla Cox, another tourist in her 50s who died this month, has publicly disputed claims made by Dominican authorities that she had a history of heart attacks.
As CBS News reports, the FBI has arranged for toxicology tests of three American tourists who died in the same week at Bahia Principe properties, including an engaged couple who were both found dead in their hotel room.
