Officials Looking Into Tainted Booze As Possible Source For Tourism Deaths: Report

Authorities are investigating tainted liquor as a possible source for the series of U.S. tourist deaths, the New York Post is reported.

They are looking into seven mysterious deaths that occurred at several Dominican Republic resorts over the past year that have similar circumstances, including the use by victims of the hotel mini-bar in many cases, according to the report.

The FBI confirmed to The Daily Caller News Foundation that it’s “assisting the Dominican authorities with their investigation.”

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In addition to the seven deaths, people have said they fell ill after consuming liquor from their hotel minibar, including a couple from Atlanta who reportedly became ill after drinking from their Bahia Principe resort mini-bar, according to the Post.

Symptoms among the dead have included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, all of which are consistent with pesticide or methanol poisoning, Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, told the Post.

So far the reported deaths that are being investigated include:

• Robert Bell Wallace, 67, died April 14
• Miranda Schaup-Warner, 41, found dead May 25
• Edward Holmes, 63, found dead May 30
• Cynthia Day, 49, died May 30
• Leyla Cox, 53, died June 10

It had been reported that the brother of “Shark Tank” judge Barbara Corcoran, was among the suspicious deaths, having passed away in April from a heart attack while in the DR, but his daughter Nichole Lande told People Friday that her father had stayed in a private home, not a resort, and did have a previous heart condition.

“Dominican authorities have asked for FBI assistance for further toxicology analysis on the recent Bahia Principe, La Romana cases and our FBI colleagues tell us that those results may take up to 30 days,” the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic said in a published statement. “We ask everyone to be patient while these investigations run their course.”

Representatives from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino and Bahia Principe resorts, where a number of the victims stayed, told the New York Post the fatalities were accidents.