Couple says they fell ill at Dominican Republic resort where 3 Americans died

Kaylynn Knull said she and her boyfriend, Tom Schwander, became sick while on vacation at the Grand Bahia Principe hotel in the coastal city of La Romana in June 2018.

"As soon as we came back to the room, we noticed it smelled like somebody had dumped paint everywhere," Knull told ABC Denver affiliate KMGH in a recent interview. "We were drooling excessively. My eyes would not stop watering."

The mysterious symptoms persisted even after the couple changed hotel rooms, according to Knull.

"That night, we both woke up soaked in sweat at like 4 in the morning and kind of terrified," she told KMGH. "And we booked a flight home before the sun came up."

Upon returning home to Colorado, the couple saw a doctor who said they were likely experiencing poisoning from organophosphate, a form of insecticide, which Knull said she believes were being used on the plants around the resort.

Knull said they sued the Grand Bahia Principe La Romana after the hotel refused to reveal the chemical used on its grounds or refund their money, but the case has apparently stalled in local courts, according to KMGH.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/couple-fell-ill-dominican-republic-resort-americans-died/story?id=63529442

MYSTERIOUS DEATHS

Autopsies show Americans who died at Dominican Republic sister resorts sustained internal trauma

The Dominican government released autopsy details on Thursday, revealing that all three Americans had internal hemorrhaging, pulmonary edema, and enlarged hearts. A U.S. State Department official told The Washington Post authorities have not yet found a definitive link between the deaths. Toxicology reports are pending, and Dominican officials said they are waiting to see if Schaup-Werner, Day, and Holmes all ingested something that led to their deaths.

https://www.theweek.com/speedreads/845836/autopsies-show-americans-who-died-dominican-republic-sister-resorts-sustained-internal-trauma

'We have been throwing up for 8 hours': Texas couple who died in Fiji texted relatives

Michelle and David Paul died two days apart after arriving in Fiji on May 22 and becoming gravely ill soon after.

The Fiji Health Ministry has been working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization to determine the malady that took the lives of two seemingly healthy people.

"We are both going to doctor now," Michelle Paul, 35, texted her parents, who live in Nevada, soon after she and her husband arrived in Fiji. "We have been throwing up for 8 hours. Dave has diarrhea. My hands are numb. We will text when we can."

https://abcnews.go.com/International/throwing-hours-texas-couple-died-fiji-emailed-relatives/story?id=63529707

Pennsylvania woman, 51, died in similar circumstances as three American tourists at Dominican resort a year ago

The family of a Pennsylvania woman who was vacationing in the Dominican Republic last year says she died in her room at a resort that is part of a popular hotel chain where the deaths of three other U.S. tourists last month are under investigation.

Relatives of Yvette Monique Sport, 51, told Fox 29 Philadelphia she was visiting the popular tourist spot last June, and stayed at the Bahia Principe Resort in Punta Cana. They say that Sport had a drink from the mini bar inside her room, later went to bed, and never woke up.

The report of Sport’s death comes on the heels of the known deaths of three U.S. tourists in five days that occurred in their rooms at hotels owned by the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts group.

Her death certificate listed “heart attack” as the cause.

The details of Sport's actions preceding her death are identical to that of Miranda Schaup-Werner of Allentown, Penn., who collapsed and died on May 25 after having a drink from the room mini bar. Five days later, on May 30, another couple, Edward Holmes and Cynthia Day were found dead in their room.

"We were promised within three months that we would receive a toxicology report to this day, which is almost a year now we’ve got nothing," Nieves said.

"I think the State Department needs to step in and investigate these deaths something is not right," Taltoan said.

Referring to other deaths at hotels in the same chain, Nieves said: "It makes me question at this point is this cause of death even true?"

https://www.foxnews.com/world/pennsylvania-woman-died-dominican-resort-hotel-room-drink-minibar