An American Recently Died While Traveling After Drinking This One Beverage

Traveling anywhere, especially to a different country, always comes with its own set of rules. There’s plenty to be excited about as you explore a new place and a totally unique culture, but there’s also a lot to be cautious about. Not to sound too negative, but there are a lot of things that could easily go wrong when you’re in an unfamiliar country. And while these things certainly don’t always happen, they sometimes do and, as dramatic as it might sound, a dream trip could suddenly become a nightmare.

This has been something of a small trend recently with American tourists traveling to the Dominican Republic. The Spanish country is a popular spot for U.S. tourists. It’s relatively inexpensive to travel to, it isn’t very far away, there are plenty of flights available, and there are lots of enticing, all-inclusive hotels on gorgeous beaches. But in the past few months, several mysterious deaths have been reported happening to tourists in the country, which is stressful to many.

Most recently, reports stated that an American tourist died while traveling to the Dominican Republic, and his family members believe it was because he consumed one thing: a scotch from his room’s minibar.

Man died at Dominican Republic resort after drink from hotel room minibar, family says https://t.co/iJ4LTpMFmR

— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) June 10, 2019

Fox News has just reported that Robert Bell Wallace, 67, from California became very sick almost immediately after drinking a scotch from the minibar in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino resort in Punta Cana. His niece, Chloe Arnold, told the outlet that her uncle was there for his stepson’s wedding.

JUST IN: US State Dept confirms a 4th American tourist death in the Dominican Republic.

He has been identified as Robert Bell Wallace, a native of the Bay Area https://t.co/b4FVoGiGoD pic.twitter.com/EDtuPxad2V

— KRON4 News (@kron4news) June 10, 2019

According to Arnold, Wallace was in great condition before his trip to the Dominican Republic, with no health issues to speak of.

She said, “He was fine. He and his wife arrived there at around midnight on April 10th. On April 11th he had scotch from the minibar. He started feeling very sick, he had blood in his urine and stool right afterward.”

« A FOURTH tourist has died after he suddenly fell ill at an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic.
Robert Bell Wallace, 67, became sick and urinated blood after he had one whisky from his room minibar at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana. pic.twitter.com/8S9DcFCu0O

— ℛ. 𝒥ℯ𝒶𝓃 _ℳ𝒶𝓇𝒾ℯ (@GuardJ34n) June 10, 2019

Arnold said that a hotel doctor came to check Wallace out, and on April 13th, he was hospitalized.

He died on April 14th, and the family has yet to hear a cause of death from Dominican authorities. The U.S. State Department gave a statement to Fox News, saying, “We can confirm the death of a U.S. citizen in April 2019 in the Dominican Republic. We offer our sincerest condolences to the family for their loss. Out of respect for the family during this difficult time, we do not have additional information to provide.”

Arnold went public with the story about her uncle when she heard about other similar situations that had taken place in the same area. She wanted the story to be kind of a warning for others thinking of traveling there.

My thoughts and prayers are with the families whom have lost their love ones in the DR 🙏🏾 its something very fishy going on over there.

— Blonde (@Thick_N_Blonde) June 10, 2019

One of the scariest things about this death is that it’s not the first time something like that has happened in the same country. In fact, there have been a few other mysterious deaths before this one.

Here's something that all Americans should agree about today: please avoid your hotel room's minibar in the Dominican Republic.

— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) June 11, 2019

On May 25th, Pennsylvania tourist Miranda Schaup-Werner died after having a drink from her minibar at the Bahia Principe La Romana hotel in the Dominican Republic. After having the drink, she collapsed, and according to her autopsy, had a heart attack, respiratory failure, and fluid accumulation in her lungs.

»Miranda Schaup-Werner died while holidaying in the Dominican Republic with her husband in May
His mysterious death comes as three other US tourists were found dead in their rooms in another hotel on the Caribbean island.

Nearly 180,000 Brits visit the country for a sunshine.. pic.twitter.com/d8Dcq6BNNW

— ℛ. 𝒥ℯ𝒶𝓃 _ℳ𝒶𝓇𝒾ℯ (@GuardJ34n) June 10, 2019

Schaup-Werner did have a history of heart conditions prior to her death.

What makes her death notable, though, is that it’s extremely similar to the deaths of two other tourists that happened at the exact same hotel.

#DOMREPUBLIC: Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, a psychotherapist from Allentown, passed away on May 25 at the all-inclusive Bahia Principe Hotel after getting a drink from the mini-bar. pic.twitter.com/MTitP608Nm

— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) June 5, 2019

An engaged couple from Maryland fell ill and died at the Bahia Principe La Romana Hotel. It happened only a few days after Schaup-Werner died.

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 in the Dominican Republic. https://t.co/tQul1oVwTU

— NBC 7 San Diego (@nbcsandiego) June 11, 2019

Nathaniel Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Ann Day, 49, checked into the resort on May 25th. They were found dead in their hotel room a few days later with no signs of violence. Officials did find a few bottles of high blood pressure medication, but that was about it.

Autopsies showed that they died from respiratory failure and pulmonary edema.

JUST IN: The bodies of Cynthia Day and her fiancé Nathaniel Holmes are back in the U.S. https://t.co/IZWNNS9gm4
The couple was found dead at a resort in the Dominican Republic. pic.twitter.com/iKOzBlsQ95

— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) June 11, 2019

The deaths of the engaged couple prompted another woman to come forward with her own story. Dawn McCoy told Fox 5 that her husband, David Harrison, died in the Dominican Republic last year under similar circumstances.

#Breaking A Charles County, Md woman whose husband died suddenly in the Dominican Republic now suspects authorities misled her on the cause of death. But Dawn McCoy had her husband, David Harris, 45, cremated. It’s too late for a second autopsy. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/7Yboh5EjGL

— Bruce Leshan (@BruceLeshan) June 5, 2019

Harrison’s autopsy says that pulmonary edema and a heart attack were the reasons for the death (pulmonary edema was also a cause of death for Schaup-Werner, Holmes, and Day). McCoy said her husband was in good health, but felt sick one night while on vacation and woke up unable to breathe.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DEATH: Dawn McCoy says her husband was just 45-years-old when he died from pulmonary edema and a potential heart attack. @FOX46News https://t.co/lbAWtrWlkG

— Rochelle Metzger (@RochelleReports) June 6, 2019

While these mysterious deaths are certainly unnerving, officials claim there’s nothing to worry about. The Washington Post says Dominican officials insist the island is safe for tourists.

Tourism officials in the Dominican Republic are scrambling to assure travelers that the country is safe after David Ortiz shooting; 4 Americans deaths. https://t.co/AXamkgqeit

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 11, 2019

The Dominican Republic is a country that strongly relies on tourism to make money, and they have noted that there are 2 million American tourists who visit each year who are perfectly safe. It’s hard to know if something is going on, or if these deaths are just unfortunate coincidences.

Maybe it’s the media, hammering this story because it will make a great @DatelineNBC episode.

— movesnotmovies (@MovesNotMovies) June 11, 2019

Still, many feel spooked.

The New York Post recently reported that more than 70 tourists reported getting violently ill while on vacation in the Dominican Republic since March, and more than 45 of them said they stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Punta Cana. It’s worth noting that officials do not know the real cause for these reported illnesses.

I insist: if you demonize the DR for one incident of violence and a few sick tourists (of 6m tourist a/yr), all of you are moving out of the US then?
After all, the US is the ONLY country in the world (not at war) that slaughter its own children while they go to school @GoDomRep pic.twitter.com/QGIYquGlWZ

— Karina De la Oz (@KarinaDelaOz) June 11, 2019

In the meantime, the FBI is looking into the deaths to try to find an explanation. There hasn’t yet been a travel advisory posted for Americans.