10th American Tourist Dies in the Dominican Republic, as Official Claims Another Victim Died from ‘Shock’

A Louisiana woman has become the 10th American tourist to die after visiting the Dominican Republic in recent weeks. Susan Simoneaux died this week after being rushed to the hospital with fluid in her lungs just one week after returning from her honeymoon in Punta Cana, according to local news reports. Dozens of tourists have gotten sick after visiting the country’s resorts and several more have died, prompting the FBI to begin looking into the matter. An autopsy is planned for Simoneaux, but a family member told Simoneaux’s doctors that her death may not be related to the trip at all, according to local news station WWL-TV.

News of her death came as an official with the Dominican Republic ministry of health reportedly dismissed concerns about a mystery illness plaguing tourists. The spokesman, Carlos Suero, said that another tourist who died, Cynthia Ann Day, had passed away merely “from the shock of seeing the person beside her dead.” Her fiancée, Edward Nathaniel Holmes, was found dead alongside her.