The bodies of Edward Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day were finally returned to the United States this week. As the families are mourning and planning funeral arrangements, however, they are also intending to seek out their own autopsies and look into the exact causes of death for their loved ones.
“The families of Cynthia Ann Day and Nathaniel Edward Holmes would like to thank the community for their condolences and support in their loss,” Steven Bullock, a lawyer representing the couple’s family told People. “We are continuing to investigate the exact cause of death.”
“The families are determined to find out what happened and why. At this time the cause of death remains a mystery,” he added. “We look forward to getting the FBI findings.”
According to the report, the U.S. State Department has already confirmed that the FBI will be looking into the couple’s deaths, as well as the deaths of two other American tourists who died while vacationing in the Dominican Republic.
Holmes, 63, and Day, 49, were discovered in their hotel room at the Bahia Principe La Romana on May 30, the same day that they were meant to return home to the United States.
They reportedly suffered from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema according to an early autopsy. Investigators also reportedly found several bottles of medication in the couple’s room.
Another American, Miranda Schaup-Werner died on May 25, the same day that both she and the couple checked into the same resort, though into different hotels.
Schaup-Werner, 41, had just checked into the Bahia Principe Bouganville and was having a drink from the minibar when she suddenly fell ill and collapsed. Her cause of death was listed as a heart attack that caused respiratory failure and fluid accumulation in her lungs, according to People.
Back in April, Robert Bell Wallace, 67, died while at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana.
His niece said that he was having a drink from his hotel room’s minibar when he became sick.
“He was fine,” his niece, Chloe Arnold said, per the report. “On April 11 he had scotch from the minibar. He started feeling very sick, he had blood in his urine and stool right afterward.”
He would die three days later, with no cause of death yet given.