After three Americans suddenly and unexpectedly died within days of each other at a Dominican Republic resort, a Maryland woman has come forward saying her husband died under similar circumstances last year.
Dawn McCoy and her husband, Dave Harrison, traveled last July to the Dominican Republic to celebrate their anniversary. The two were enjoying themselves until, one day, Harrison complained to McCoy while heading back to their hotel room that he wasn't feeling well, McCoy told WTTG-TV.
When Harrison woke up the next morning, his condition had worsened.
"He wasn't able to breathe," McCoy said. "He wasn't able to talk. He was sweating profusely."
McCoy said she called for help and that it took a doctor 25 minutes to get to their room. She believes Harrison died within that time, she said.
Harrison’s Dominican death certificate lists his cause of death as pulmonary edema -- or, fluid in the lungs -- and a heart attack.
McCoy said she was shocked to learn of the recent deaths of three Americans in the Dominican Republic, especially since all three are said to have also died of pulmonary edema.
Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, collapsed and died at the Bahia Principe Hotel in La Romana on May 25, according to previous Cox Media Group reports. Her cause of death was listed as respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, Fox News reported.
Less than a week before Schaup-Werner’s death, Edward Nathaniel Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Day, 49, of Prince George's County, Maryland, died at the same resort.
Holmes and Day missed their scheduled check-out, according to news reports. When hotel staffers went to check on the couple, they found them dead in their room, WJZ-TV reported. An autopsy reportedly revealed that they died from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, as well.
McCoy was planning on visiting the Dominican Republic to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Harrison’s death. However, she cancelled her trip upon learning of the deaths of Schaup-Werner, Holmes and Day.
“When it came up that they died from the same exact thing as my husband, I thought ‘No, no ... there’s no way two people could die of the same exact thing,’” she told WTTG-TV.
McCoy had Harrison’s body cremated, and told the news station she now regrets doing so without ordering a second autopsy.
The U.S. State Department told Fox News that U.S. Embassy officials are "actively monitoring the investigations by Dominican authorities" into the deaths of Schaup-Werner, Holmes and Day.
Officials with the Dominican Republic hadn't yet responded to media requests for comment regarding Harrison's death, WUSA-TV reported.
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