Maryland

Family Plans Second Autopsy as Bodies of Engaged Maryland Couple Return Home

According to the Dominican Republic National Police, an autopsy performed on Day and Holmes determined they died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. But the family doesn't believe the results of that examination

The bodies of an engaged Maryland couple found dead in their Dominican Republic hotel room have been returned to the United States, and their families are planning for second autopsies to be performed.

Nathaniel Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Day, 50, were found dead May 30, five days after another American died after collapsing at a different hotel on the same resort property.

According to the Dominican Republic National Police, an autopsy performed on Day and Holmes determined they died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. But the family doesn't believe the results of that examination, a relative of Day has said.

The deaths of the couple followed on the heels of the death of another American tourist, 41-year-old Miranda Schaup-Werner,  a psychotherapist from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

A spokesperson for Schaup-Werner's family said she died May 25 from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema like Holmes and Day. 

Preliminary autopsy reports released by the Dominican Republic's Attorney General said that Schaup-Werner died of "heart attacks in the left ventricular wall, pulmonary edema and respiratory failure."

There is still some gray area, however. While the resort claimed that Schaup-Werner's husband confirmed she had a "history of heart conditions," a family spokesperson said she was healthy at the time of her trip.

On Monday a U.S. Department of State spokesperson confirmed the April 2019 death of another American tourist in the Dominican Republic. The spokesperson said investigations had not yet found any connection between the deaths. 

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