The Federal Bureau of Investigation is working with authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate the recent deaths of several Americans at resorts in the Caribbean tourist destination.
At least three people died at a single resort complex in La Romana in May, according to the U.S. State Department. Press reports have named five other Americans who have died on the island in the past year.
“Local authorities report they have not found a connection between the cases during the initial stages of their investigation,” a State Department official said Tuesday of the three La Romana deaths. Both the department and the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo, the capital 75 miles to the west, said they are closely monitoring the investigations.
“We have no higher priority than the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad,” the official said.
The Dominican Republic, with its white-sand beaches and all-inclusive resorts, draws 6.6 million tourists annually—with 3.3 million vacationers coming from the U.S. and Canada, according to figures released by the government.
Tourism is the country’s most important industry and has made impressive quality control gains in the past few years, said Eduardo Gamarra, a political-science professor at Florida International University who has studied and served as a consultant in the Dominican Republic. Mr. Gamarra noted it was the Dominican government that got the FBI involved in the investigation.
“The law of averages tells you that when you have that high a tourist population, you are bound to have some deaths,” he says. “But I think the Dominicans are serious about addressing this issue. They live from tourism, and if tourists stop going, the economy—one of the fastest-growing in Latin America—will go to hell.”
So far, there are few answers to explain the deaths.
Francisco Javier García, the country’s minister of tourism, called the deaths “isolated and regrettable” in a June 6 press conference. “We ask the national police to speed up as fast as possible the investigation into these cases,” he said.
The FBI is assisting Dominican authorities with their investigation, an agency spokesperson said Tuesday.
Local authorities had requested assistance on toxicology analyses in the deaths of Nathaniel Edward Holmes, Cynthia Ann Day and Miranda Schaup-Werner at the Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts properties in La Romana, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement earlier this month. Results may take up to 30 days.
“We ask everyone to be patient while these investigations run their course,” the embassy said.
Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Last year, 724 Americans died abroad from nonnatural causes, according to State Department data. Fourteen of those died in the Dominican Republic from vehicle accidents, drownings and homicides, according to State Department data. In 2017, 17 Americans died there.
While the State Department doesn’t publish statistics on deaths abroad from natural causes, the department official said that “speaking generally, we have not seen an uptick in the number of U.S. citizen deaths reported.”
Scott Weisenberg, medical director of the Travel Medicine Program at New York University’s Langone Medical Center, said illnesses abroad are common. “Most deaths of people who are abroad occur because of natural causes, from heart attacks, and accidents,” Dr. Weisenberg said. “And infectious diseases are relatively uncommon but can also occur.”
The State Department hasn’t changed its travel advisory for the Dominican Republic.
In April, it advised visitors to exercise “increased caution,” saying violent crime is a concern throughout the island. The advisory notes that local tap water is unsafe to drink but makes no mention of safety issues concerning food, alcohol or other illnesses.
The State Department regularly updates its travel advisories. “Should we learn of safety risks to the public through the investigation, we will share that information,” the official said.
