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

[Synergizer Bunny]

Perhaps it wasn't a bathroom in a hotel room but a public bathroom in the hotel, like in a lobby or bar. Maybe even a staff bathroom etc?

For some reason, I was thinking that it was a window to an outside pool bathroom?? Did I dream it? Or, is it just my speculation? I can't imagine him being able to open any room window. All the rooms had to have AC and totally closed.

I envision that it was one of those half windows that are used to vent pool bathrooms to keep them from getting too hot.

JMO.

 

[TDoc72]

Once he was stuck in the open window, which is where the Mexican authorities say he died, he had no way to yell for help. His chest was being squeezed and he could no longer breathe. Manual Asphyxiation from the coroner tells us this is how he died. Likely, all the bruising was a combo of trying to get into the window while possibly inebriated, and damage to major blood vessels in the abdomen and pelvis from the compression pressure.

I believe he went to the back of a building and somehow opened a low window ( first floor) for some reason, which may never be explained or released to the public, and died, stuck in the window. Likely, he was found half in and half out, with his head, neck, and arms inside the room he was trying to enter and angled downward towards the floor. He could have definitely have sustained bruising all over from what he was trying to do in the middle of the night, likely in the dark, and likely not sober. Such a sad mistake.

Sounds like a similar cause of death of the teen boy that got trapped in the back of the minivan and tried calling for help.

 

[jollymon]

This is excellent info. He could have decided to stay out past COVID curfew at the resort. Maybe he went to the beach to drink some more, got drunk and disoriented, and tried to sneak back into the wrong hotel so he didn't get in trouble for breaking the rules.

I also think no bruising on his face supports him accidentally getting stuck in the window as strange as it sounds. Surveillance video should be able to quickly rule foul play in or out. Sad for this family!

The other hotel was 10 miles away

 

[MimosaMornings]

The other hotel was 10 miles away

I thought the resorts were extremely close to each other by looking at the map and photos of each resort? The Royalton is a high rise white building with black balcony/exterior accents facing the beach and the Sunset is more of a white low rise building.
JMO

 

[scdiv]

Google maps show the two hotels as a 140 meter/ 2 minute walk from each other.

Google Maps

 

[anonypotomous]

The other hotel was 10 miles away

New reports say it was the resort next door. This has all been very confusing as there has been a lot lost in translation. IMO.

 

[anonypotomous]

For some reason, I was thinking that it was a window to an outside pool bathroom?? Did I dream it? Or, is it just my speculation? I can't imagine him being able to open any room window. All the rooms had to have AC and totally closed.

I envision that it was one of those half windows that are used to vent pool bathrooms to keep them from getting too hot.

JMO.

That makes sense. I don't think the hotel rooms have bathrooms with windows - much less windows facing outdoors, easily opened, and close enough to the ground to climb into.

 

[TTF14]

Maybe he had been knocking on a door for his wife to let him in the room, but it was the wrong room....he gave up and tried to just enter the room through the bathroom window???

 

[moonriverfarm]

But where where his legs and feet during this time? Are you saying this window would have to be waist high or so? How would he lift his self up so high that he got stuck? Either he just stood up and opened the window and tried to climb in, or he had to jump up to the window and hoist his entire body weight in just enough to get stuck, but why wouldn't he be able to back out? Or was there an object outside the window that he used to climb on to get in the window? Just curious how this plays out. TIA..

I don't see any small ground level windows at either resort - so what window was he said to be climbing in?

 

[SeekingJana]

This is speculation, and I've never been to Mexico. However, I have lived in S. Florida. We lived on the water, but not where the prettiest and safest beaches were ( we had alligators), so we'd drive a few miles to the Don Cesar resort and spend time on their gorgeous white sand beach and maybe have a mocktail or two.

What I noticed is that one block behind the gorgeous historic Don Cesar and the entire wall of resorts lining the ocean front were older, still in original vintage style, very small block or stucco small one- owner houses. They had refused to sell when the hotels and resorts moved in, so were likely from the 1940's and 1950's. We had to park in this area and walk to the beach, so I looked at the small houses and admired the staying power that close to the beach and the hurricanes.

I expect there were also the same type of houses in Mexico. It's pretty common to see world-wide, I believe.
Maybe a resort is being inserted into the narrative because of the intrusion and possible legal problems it would cause to say " Mr. Snow died trying to climb through the bathroom window of the private home of Emilio Azuro at 1200 Coquina Street".
( I do not retain fluent Spanish except the necessary words for an emergency, hence why I used English, not out of cultural appropriation).

I don't know that this happened, but it would still be a very viable thing to have happened because of the beachfront location and the usually vintage small beach houses just behind the tourist areas.

I know many have felt there's a translation problem, but it seems to " come and go". Maybe it's a matter of a tiny bit of protection for an innocent family.

The COD has to be specified correctly, and using a resort instead of a private home as the setting for the accidental asphyxiation might be as close to the truth as they're willing to go.
I know if someone accidentally died on my property and I could keep it quiet, I would. Then, I'd go get some grief therapy that I'd not been able to save the person's life for whatever reason applied.

The best lie is as close to the truth as one can go, and should be done to protect innocents only, IMO.

 

[SherryLock]

I don't think they said what kind of bathroom it was. Maybe it was a locked pool bathroom or other common ground bathroom, on ground level.

If he went to the wrong hotel but was not allowed in because he wasn't registered there, perhaps he wanted shelter for the night or maybe he just wanted to use the restroom.

 

[Shamrock1]

Drunk people make bad decisions. He may have a history of very good decisions, but it only takes one bad decision. If he's accustomed to a beer here and there and starting taking shots of hard alcohol, he may have gotten more inebriated than he intended. JMO.

 

[anonypotomous]

<snipped for focus>
Maybe a resort is being inserted into the narrative because of the intrusion and possible legal problems it would cause to say " Mr. Snow died trying to climb through the bathroom window of the private home of Emilio Azuro at 1200 Coquina Street".

I don't know that this happened, but it would still be a very viable thing to have happened because of the beachfront location and the usually vintage small beach houses just behind the tourist areas.

The COD has to be specified correctly, and using a resort instead of a private home as the setting for the accidental asphyxiation might be as close to the truth as they're willing to go.
I know if someone accidentally died on my property and I could keep it quiet, I would.

The resorts there in Cancun are in what's called the "Hotel Zone" - no homes at all.

 

[SeekingJana]

The resorts there in Cancun are in what's called the "Hotel Zone" - no homes at all.

Wow. totally different than dear old S. Florida. Very beautiful and modern resorts. I can see how someone could get lost among the resorts if out and about after drinking nearby, but then the narrative kind of falls apart in the face of reality.
Like everyone else has said, it seems the " bathroom window" is non-existent in a modern resort building unless it was a staff or convention facility near the rear of the resort next door. I can see that, but the idea that the window would be standing open or able to be opened with what he likely had with him seems very remote.

I think he died like they are saying, but not where they are saying, specifically. It just doesn't fit, IMO, unless he got stuck somewhere that would be hurtful to Cancun's reputation. Examples might possibly be: Open sewage drain, open large garbage chute, anything to do with sanitation hazards of that nature. I doubt these things exist, but am trying to think of openings a physically fit firefighter might have decided to hide in if he thought he was in some sort of danger, or try to use to get into a building while intoxicated.

Most pools have their equipment housed in a utility building and because of the heat in the area, it's conceivable to me that this sort of building could have windows for cross- ventilation. Home pool structures are small, and I've never looked at one for a specialty area pool like a seafront pool for the public and one or more hot spas.

 

[SeekingJana]

Drunk people make bad decisions. He may have a history of very good decisions, but it only takes one bad decision. If he's accustomed to a beer here and there and starting taking shots of hard alcohol, he may have gotten more inebriated than he intended. JMO.

My husband and I were talking about this local area man and trying to figure out what happened to him.
Hubby, who watches 20/20 and that genre of expose' news stories, said that he'd watched a special about the open liquor bottles some of the Mexican and US to the Caribbean resorts pour from at their bar areas.
He said that they will keep the premium bottles spiked to pour, but will refill them with an entirely different product. Like " Bacardi Rum" might actually be a dangerous methanol/ alcohol blend that's $2.00/ multiple gallons.

Here's one article that discusses " Don't drink the liquor in Mexico". They are a Las Vegas publication, though, and may not be impartial. I don't know.
Booze News: Watch out for Tainted Alcohol in Mexico | Vegas Pub Crawler

Hubby said that people who drank too much, or weren't usually drinkers thus were more likely to accept an " off" tasting drink were experiencing things such as blindness, brain damage, pulmonary edema ( life threatening fluid in the lungs), all the symptoms listed under " Methanol poisoning". Methanol is NOT safe for ingestion and has been implicated recently in many side effects from cheap hand sanitizer. ( Always wash hands with soap and water to avoid this accidentally).

Other contaminants were mentioned, but Methanol was the one that was truly the killer ingredient.
Another thing was swelling of the brain from contaminants, either intentional, negligent or purposeful. Swelling of the brain causes confusion and disorientation in its earliest stages.
I don't know firsthand how prevalent this is but if the drinks are free, they are probably not using the premium liquor listed on the label every time, or maybe most times, IMO. Profit margin and all that.

 

[byo]

Is it possible that Mr Snow went to visit at the other resort, and found himself in an unintended "situation"?

He asks to use the rest room. He opens the window, and slides feet first out the window [without fastening the window in the open position] Mr Snow misjudges the distance to the ground, and his hands and neck are caught at the window jamb?

 

[Synergizer Bunny]

I do NOT know if this is factual, but my husband and I were talking about this local area man and trying to figure out what happened to him.

Hubby, who watches 20/20 and that genre of expose' news stories, said that he'd watched a special about the open liquor bottles some of the Mexican and US to the Caribbean resorts pour from at their bar areas.
He said that they will keep the premium bottles spiked to pour, but will refill them with an entirely different product. Like " Bacardi Rum" might actually be a dangerous methanol/ alcohol blend that's $2.00/ multiple gallons.

He said that people who drank too much, or weren't usually drinkers thus were more likely to accept an " off" tasting drink were experiencing things such as blindness, brain damage, pulmonary edema ( life threatening fluid in the lungs), all the symptoms listed under " Methanol poisoning". Methanol is NOT safe for ingestion and has been implicated recently in many side effects from cheap hand sanitizer. ( Always wash hands with soap and water to avoid this accidentally).

Other contaminants were mentioned, but Methanol was the one that was truly the killer ingredient.
Another thing was swelling of the brain from contaminants, either intentional, negligent or purposeful. Swelling of the brain causes confusion and disorientation in its earliest stages.
I don't know firsthand how prevalent this is but if the drinks are free, they are probably not using the premium liquor listed on the label every time, or maybe most times, IMO. Profit margin and all that.

I have strongly suspected this sometimes happening at the resorts that we go to in Mexico, which are 5-star resorts. We do have alcohol in our rooms; however, the bottles that they pour from at the bars are usually already open.

With Covid-19 restricting tourist travel, the hotel district is probably a little under water in Mexico. It wouldn't surprise me if they cut corners any way that they can.

I'm not say that this happened, but I wouldn't rule it out.

JMO.

 

[SeekingJana]

Is it possible that Mr Snow went to visit at the other resort, and found himself in an unintended "situation"?

He asks to use the rest room. He opens the window, and slides feet first out the window [without fastening the window in the open position] Mr Snow misjudges the distance to the ground, and his hands and neck are caught at the window jamb?

We haven't seen what seems to be rows of ground or near ground level guest rooms in the area. They are high rise resorts.
Also, the issue of " No window in the bathroom for privacy" still exists.
If we could find guest rooms ( or staff sleeping quarters, perhaps) on ground level or 2nd floor with bathroom windows, that would solve the rest of the mystery.
No red arrows to those mysterious windows show up, though, do they? I volunteer to go check it out if WS wants to send me. ( J/K of course).

This detail may not be resolvable online, but maybe a poster will go to Cancun, remember this poor man's case, and do a little harmless sleuthing.

 

[SeekingJana]

I have strongly suspected this sometimes happening at the resorts that we go to in Mexico, which are 5-star resorts. We do have alcohol in our rooms; however, the bottles that they pour from at the bars are usually already open.
JMO.

How do you deal with the open bottle pouring situation? I'm not asking to be nosey but because a work around might save a poster's life. Someone doing good things like Mr. Snow was in N. Texas.
I've always heard " Don't drink the water", so what's left? Soda in an unopened bottle or can, without ice- yuck?

 

[PoppyJune]

I’m waiting to see if the bathroom window is another translation issue. Also, was he trying to get in or get out of a window? I think that is an important piece of info. Agree that he wasn’t operating from a sober thought process. Still thinking this was an unfortunate circumstance of too much alcohol and poor decisions.