TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES

American Found Dead in Suspected Suicide at Russian Migrant Facility

Mitchell was sent to the detention facility after he attempted to enter the partially-recognized Georgian state of Abkhazia with “undeclared money.”

A U.S. citizen was found dead in a migrant detention facility in the Krasnodar region of Russia, according to the Russian newspaper Kommersant and the state-owned new agency RIA Novosti. Ernest Harry Mitchell, 56, reportedly died by suicide, with an unnamed Telegram channel claiming that Mitchell’s body was discovered in a restroom with cuts to his arms, legs, and neck. RIA Novosti reported that Mitchell was sent to the detention facility after he attempted to enter the partially-recognized Georgian state of Abkhazia with “undeclared money.” Court papers claimed that Mitchell did not have acceptable health insurance in Russia, leading a Sochi court to charge him $32 and decide deportation from the country was necessary.