Mexico - Arlington TX Firefighter Elijah Snow, wed anniversary found dead at Cancun resort, Jul 2021

[abstr]

Were the photos from the medical examiner or funeral home ( that FIL took) ? I can’t imagine a medical examiner would release that quickly. I also can’t imagine the funeral home would allow a family in the preparation room. Maybe it is different outside the US. In the US exposure to embalming chemicals, regulations and pure respect for families would never allow any family member in that area.
In the US if a family member posted pics from a prep room the inspectors would descend the next day!
I work in compliance in this area and am all kinds of upset.
Are the pictures from family or were provided to family?

 

[Strangeworld]

Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online

Good eye! I notice something that’s a clear indication of photo manipulation on the 2nd autopsy photo that I can’t unsee pertaining to the forehead pic. The man’s hair on his right side is naturally choppy but the left side is impossibly perfectly cut in a straight line - an obvious indication of a cropped photo IMO.

This could also just be where they took hair samples

 

[TDoc72]

There are 2 other abnormalities in the first set of photos- the postmortem photos posted on the Daily Mail as " Autopsy Photos" provided by family from coroner in Mexico.

1) First photo- This is the posterior head, neck and shoulders showing a fireman's tattoo, and reddened areas.

Look at the background. It is of a tiled WALL. The man is standing in the corner, because both walls are different. There is a sheet loosely in front of his anterior chest if you look closely. This is to simulate an autopsy table ( badly). One takes photos of a corpse in prone and supine positions, meaning they are placed on their back, then are lying on their abdomen.
NOT standing up. A deceased person cannot stand, of course. Propping a body up is extremely disrespectful and could also easily fall and injure the corpse, in which case they really would have their hands full from the family attorneys.

The person in the photo has to be standing up against a tiled section of a wall. The autopsy table is metal, possibly covered in plastic, with numerous buckets and weights for measuring the weight of internal organs.
There is NO WAY to keep the blood and body fluids inside a decaying body out of TILE GROUT.
This photo must be a fake. A live man was photographed. The tattoo may be superimposed on the photo in the correct location. Note it is not scraped or damaged. This is my opinion but it is also common sense.

Snipped by me

To me, it looks like he’s on a metal table and rolled onto his side for the photo. I don’t get the sense that he’s standing at all. Yes, I do see there is a tile wall behind him.

 

[Sunny Day]

That would make sense. I know they try to keep the resorts pristine!!

But from the pics doesn’t it LOOK like there was some type of cover removed? Just wondering if I’m the only one who sees that.

I thought the same thing, that it looked like some sort of cover or frame had been removed from the window.

 

[Wild Rose]

I did not look at the photos, not up to it, but wanted to add that we found a deceased male hanging out of a window once. He was an older gentleman who had a heart attack, during the episode, he fell halfway out the window. So these things do happen, where a body can fall halfway out a window. I do not remember if it contributed to his death, or the heart attack was immediately fatal. But it was an anomaly of a more typical death, but these things do happen. Also, blood pooling usually was dependent on passage of time after death until found and usually dependent on gravity over time.

 

[Bit of hope]

I'm putting myself on the line here. I've not said a great deal about the first set of photos, the ones published in the Daily Mail, which we likely all have viewed, which showed body parts of a male with bruising and cuts.

I have said I thought one photo was digitally manipulated, thus incorrect, because a human eye is clearly visible above an eyebrow. I asked my spouse at that time if he thought all the photos were fakes, because of a few factors I didn't say much about here on WS.

I feel that I must speak up in view of the second set of photos out of Mexico which I am almost 100% certain are fakes.

I now believe the Daily Mail was given a set of photos of a posed living man or a composite group of photos of living men with bruises. The correct photo or photos will have ES's tattoos super-imposed on top of the other images.

What I believe I was looking at was an alive man or men, because there was NO rigor mortis and NO livor mortis. Livor mortis remains on a body from the time of death until active decomposition sets in.
I did have a chart in hours and days and am going to look for it in a second.

Things that aren't right in the " autopsy photo" group:
The skin color is normal. There are old cuts all over the legs. More like what a manual laborer would sustain and forget about. Not that common at all on a 35 year old well groomed US male who didn't appear to have ANY blemishes on his legs in the photos by the beach, he and his wife together, and he alone.

The fingers appear to be well oxygenated. I saw it and I ignored it. Blood does NOT return to a corpse, and there's a reason makeup is put all over exposed surfaces for a coffin viewing- the body is purplish white. A MIXTURE of both purple and white. Very purple in dependent areas, very white nearer the area which was placed closest to the air, for a lack of a better way to state it. Blood goes to the lower back, buttocks, backs of legs, arms etc, and it stays dependently positioned.
Embalming may cause an overall WHITE as in " Liquid paper" white, but it cannot put live skin color back. This person or people is or are not wearing makeup either, unless there is stage makeup creating some of the bruises.

Look closely at the photo showing the head. Do you see all the white scaly skin looking debris? Across from that is a dead person's eye. When people die, the eyes become sunken from dehydration and loss of support muscle tone, and they will turn a grayish color in a Caucasian person, but it is a LONG process, not a fast acting one. This is WHY, when we read about unidentified remains being found, sometimes there will be a notation that the eye color can't be determined, or is "gray", when gray is not an eye color possible through DNA. It means the pigment has dissipated.

I believe I was conned. That person appears to have a beating heart perfusing blood and oxygen to their body. NO discoloration, NO stiffness, NO sign of death being present.
I am so very sorry. I could be influenced by the second set of photos unduly, but at this time, I'm calling " bogus" on the pink person with what appear to be fresh bruises, and the one with the head and arms hanging out a window. Mr. Snow's behind was not that size, and there's no dot over it. Also, I don't believe he was wearing blue jeans in Cancun.

One last thing: In the photos of the various angles of a body, there is evidence of sunburn in one photo. He hadn't been in Mexico long enough to get sunburned, as he had been living and working in a very similar climate in Texas.

If I am wrong, I apologize. I promise that I am voicing true doubts because I have no ulterior motives in this except getting to the truth, and I overlooked basic principles, thinking the officials might have adjusted the color saturation for the family's comfort level. I do NOT believe they did that, then took the second set of photos in the bathroom, especially. I can't see through blurry dots, so have no idea who's in the photos but several things are way "off" in the positioning to be a deceased victim, just several things as I stated earlier.
To our moderators, if we were conned, I don't think it's the only one in this saga. If a person tells you who they are by their lies, believe them.

God bless Mr. Snow, and may he rest in peace always in Heaven.

So sorry.....IMO you did nothing wrong...read you did the best you can. I noticed the strange eye-looking thing too, but I'm not used to look at injured or death bodies in real life (except those close to me) Not that I want to be right, don't know how to say it....I did mention the Daily Fail...My experience is that they mess things up and even make things up.

 

[Dutcher]

Some observations and speculation…

About the autopsy

1. I do not believe the autopsy photos are fake.
2. The body is lying on a typical autopsy table, with raised edges.
3. Livor mortis sets in after ca. 3 hours, but is most visible after 8 to 12 hours.
4. With the body semi-upright, I expect most of the blood pooling to occur in the lower legs and the abdomen — both not visible in any of the pictures.
5. The left hand in the autopsy picture isn't holding onto anything.

About the incident

1. The fact that his shirt seems to only cover his shoulders and arms, leads me to believe he went in legs first.
2. Judged by the height of shower fixtures, I believe the victim's feet are not touching the ground.
3. With no footing, all of his body weight rests on his torso.
   
4. The victim got stuck, had nothing to hold onto to pull himself out and he couldn't eject himself by pushing against a wall or even the floor with his feet.
5. This caused the victim to quickly suffocate.

All JMO, of course.

 

[margarita25]

Sorry if already posted - this just popped up on my feed and I came right here:

 

[MistyWaters]

This could also just be where they took hair samples

Could be but considering the length of hair on the other side, at most the clipping would’ve been 1/4 to 1/2”. If for some reason hair samples were required wouldn’t entire hairs be used, rather than just short end clippings?

I can see why the autopsy photos give cause for the family to question the Mexican determination of accidental death.

“Family members are convinced the father-of-two was a victim of foul play and are now calling on the FBI to investigate, after Mexican officials said he died of asphyxiation overnight on July 19 while trying to climb through a tiny bathroom window at the Sunset Royal Beach Resort.”
Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online

 

[neesaki]

I do not, for all the goodness in the world, see how his head and arms being outside the window caused him to either suffocate from the position or to die from any related cause.

He could have taken one arm out of a 24 inch window with his head. The other arm might have been injured ( I believe his right shoulder was injured already).

This is not true to form, this is not what getting caught in something and having it squeeze the respiratory muscles and lungs looks like!!! His chest is not compressed from front to back, he only had to drop his head and one arm inside the window, likely hurting the other arm, and fall to the floor to live.

Can someone post the fireman in the ladder video? Show the shoulder and arm raised on top of the body, shoulder and arm underneath to assist on the floor?

Something is WAY off, IMO. So what if he might have fallen a few feet on the way down? He would have lived. A suffocation death is horribly painful.
I do not believe this man in this position suffocated, IMO.
IMO, with great respect and humility and also huge amounts of alarm and disbelief at this point.

Also, the media or someone is doling these photos out little by little for shock value. IF the Daily Mail has 100 photos, they will usually post 100 photos. NOTE- this is in relation to the photos published in a Mexican tabloid. We must be mindful of valid vs. posed and sensationalized photos.

I agree with you, I don’t see how he died in the manner they’re claiming. There’s several inches of open space in the window. Caveat: Not trying to play amateur forensic expert here, but it’s just not adding up, JMO.

 

[al66pine]

Mr. Snow's toenails in this DailyMail pic, sourced to Facebook.

Bruises on most/all nails? Caused in firefighter's line of duty or drills?
(Yes, like many ppl, I've dropped something heavy on toe, got black, big nail for months.)

Or nail polish? (Yes, I know, many men wear fingernail polish. Nothing wrong w it. I've not noticed men w toenail polish, I could be too far back in the cave to have noticed. Or not paying attn. If it is polish, seems to be a very dark color, like Ms Snow's pedi-polish.)

Or other?

Likely of no significance to the case, just caught my attn.

Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online Mod, Sorry if pic is oversized. I do not know how to size it down.

 

[anonypotomous]

Mr. Snow's toenails in this DailyMail pic, sourced to Facebook.

Bruises on most/all nails? Caused in firefighter's line of duty or drills?
(Yes, like many ppl, I've dropped something heavy on toe, got black, big nail for months.)

Or nail polish? (Yes, I know, many men wear fingernail polish. Nothing wrong w it. I've not noticed men w toenail polish, I could be too far back in the cave to have noticed. Or not paying attn. If it is polish, seems to be a very dark color, like Ms Snow's pedi-polish.)

Or other?

Likely of no significance to the case, just caught my attn.

Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online Mod, Sorry if pic is oversized. I do not know how to size it down.

A lot of dads I know with young daughters let their daughters paint their toenails. For some reason little girls get a kick out of it. Very sweet of the daddies to let them do it.

 

[al66pine]

FBI Authority in Mexico?
Family* of Mr. Snow wants to pressure "Mexico to let FBI come in."
I'm trying to recall instances of FBI agents going to a foreign country to investigate a crime in that country against a US citizen - if all the elements of the crime happened there & no actions in US.
Scratching my head on this. Anyone recall?

I haven't searched further than this info, addressing FBI making arrests in foreign countries.*
"What authority do FBI special agents have to make arrests... ? .... On foreign soil, FBI special agents generally do not have authority to make arrests except in certain cases where, with the consent of the host country, Congress has granted the FBI extraterritorial jurisdiction."
_________________________________________
* Mr. Snow's Fa-in-Law, per Daily Mail, July 30:* "'We don't agree with Mexico's narrative that this was an accident,' he said. 'Our main goal now is to put pressure on Mexico to let the FBI come in because we don't trust them.'" bbm
Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online
** What authority do FBI special agents have to make arrests in the United States, its territories, or on foreign soil? | Federal Bureau of Investigation

 

[al66pine]

A lot of dads I know with young daughters let their daughters paint their toenails. For some reason little girls get a kick out of it. Very sweet of the daddies to let them do it.

@anonypotomous Ah, yes, Daddy's little live-in manicurist(s), and it looks like dau's in pic are about the right age for that. Very plausible.
I knew there were reasons other than the few I thought of. Thank you.

And the pix was not taken in Mexico. Again, IDK why the pic caught my attention.

 

[neesaki]

FBI Authority in Mexico?
Family* of Mr. Snow wants to pressure "Mexico to let FBI come in."
I'm trying to recall instances of FBI agents going to a foreign country to investigate a crime in that country against a US citizen - if all the elements of the crime happened there & no actions in US.
Scratching my head on this. Anyone recall?

I haven't searched further than this info, addressing FBI making arrests in foreign countries.*
"What authority do FBI special agents have to make arrests... ? .... On foreign soil, FBI special agents generally do not have authority to make arrests except in certain cases where, with the consent of the host country, Congress has granted the FBI extraterritorial jurisdiction."
_________________________________________
* Mr. Snow's Fa-in-Law, per Daily Mail, July 30:* "'We don't agree with Mexico's narrative that this was an accident,' he said. 'Our main goal now is to put pressure on Mexico to let the FBI come in because we don't trust them.'" bbm
Elijah Snow's family share autopsy photos, revealing heavy bruising to firefighter's body | Daily Mail Online
** What authority do FBI special agents have to make arrests in the United States, its territories, or on foreign soil? | Federal Bureau of Investigation

If I recall correctly, the FBI was involved with Amy Bradley’s case. She’s the one who went missing on a cruise ship with her family, somewhere around Aruba, IIRC. Still an unsolved case. I would really like to see her thread reopened. Unfortunately it was closed due to trolls, who had, Imo, nothing but nefarious intentions.

 

[KNinTX]

Imo, those are not his hands unblurred at the center of the photo. It is part of the building. His hands and arms are blurred and dangling in front of his head on the left and right.

Also imo, you can't see his full legs and they are not touching the floor. Otherwise he probably wouldn't have died that way.

I too only see his arms and hands blurred out. I can’t see any un blurred parts of his hands, fingers or arms. IMO

 

[al66pine]

FBI & Foreign Countries?

If I recall correctly, the FBI was involved with Amy Bradley’s case. She’s the one who went missing on a cruise ship with her family, somewhere around Aruba, IIRC. Still an unsolved case....

@neesaki sbm What a memory you have - 1998, reported missing from cruise ship and as you say, still unsolved. Sad.

^ was a MisPers case in international waters,* different from Mr. Snow's known death which happened in a foreign country. Maybe someone here will search further re statutes authorizing FBI to investigate in foreign countries.

Respectfully (not trying to be a smart aleck) but FBI agents can't go barging into another country willy-nilly every time a US citizen dies there. (Not saying you said that). I recall other cases where FBI investigated a US citizen's suspicious death in foreign country, when a person believed to be involved in causing the death was a US citizen and some elements of the homicide, like planning or buying a weapon, occurred in the US. Then, after extradition, etc, those cases were tried in US courts iirc.

If Mr. Snow's death was not accidental, I hope the person responsible is arrested & convicted.
Regardless sad, sad, sad.
________________________________________
* Per FBI poster "Amy Lynn Bradley,... Rhapsody of the Seas... was traveling in international waters ... During the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 24, 1998, Amy Lynn Bradley went missing...." sbm bbm
AMY LYNN BRADLEY — FBI

 

[LaurenJ36]

I can’t help but think if he truly had a drunken misadventure that the resort/Mexican officials would have provided his clothes to his wife and also the surveillance footage. I hope his wife can put enough pressure on someone to get the surveillance footage. My heart hurts for her.

 

[Dutcher]

The FBI can offer their assistance and resources (in particular forensic expertise) to local law enforcement, and maybe through a bit of diplomatic pressure, local LE will (begrudgingly) let them join the party.

The FBI has zero legal standing in any country but the US, and their jurisdiction ends at the country's borders (inc. overseas territories, of course).

The same applies for, say, Interpol — they can't bargain into America and say "we'll take it from here". But they can, and have many times, offer their assistance. A lot of that comes down to the diplomatic ties between countries.

With all that said: I doubt the FBI will get into this, as this isn't a high-profile case (no disrespect to the victim) and since there is no body anymore… The family really didn't do themselves any favours with the "hasty" cremation.

 

[MistyWaters]

The same applies for, say, Interpol — they can't bargain into America and say "we'll take it from here". But they can, and have many times, offer their assistance. A lot of that comes down to the diplomatic ties between countries.

With all that said: I doubt the FBI will get into this, as this isn't a high-profile case (no disrespect to the victim) and since there is no body anymore… The family really didn't do themselves any favours with the "hasty" cremation.

I’ve searched but can find no link about cremation taking place. Other than other comments here on WS, what’s the source of that information? It appears the family noted the bruising firsthand at the funeral home, so it would seem strange they’d authorize cremation to immediately proceed.

“The grieving family of a Texas firefighter, found dead in a resort bathroom in Mexico on July 19, has shared the gory post mortem photos. Heavy bruising and cuts can be seen on Elijah Snow's dead body……..

…….Snow’s stepfather David Oujesky took the pictures of the deceased at a Cancun funeral home, which showed his legs, back, and forehead covered in bruises.”
Elijah Snow's family shares post mortem photos with heavy bruising, cuts on firefighter's body

ETA - And I could be wrong but doesn’t “visitation” generally involve a body in either an open or closed casket?
“Visitation was held on Monday, July 26th 2021 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Moore Funeral Home (1219 N Davis Dr, Arlington, TX 76012). A celebration of life was held on Tuesday, July 27th 2021 at 10:00 AM at the Rush Creek Church (2350 SW Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington, TX 76017).”
Elijah Burnett Snow Obituary (1985 - 2021) | Arlington, Texas