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Samples taken from three American tourists who died while vacationing in a Bahamas resort under mysterious circumstances have been sent to an American lab, officials said Monday.
Paul Rolle, the chief superintendent at the Royal Bahamas Police Force, said officials collected samples from the rooms and surrounding property where the tourists were staying in the Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma to determine if contaminants were present.
“We really want to know what caused this,” he said.
BAHAMAS SANDALS RESORT DEATHS: AMERICAN HONEYMOONERS DESCRIBE ‘SCARY FEELING’
The pool area of the Sandals Emerald Bay resort in June 2016. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Sandals)
The samples were taken to a lab in Philadelphia. Toxicology results are expected in a week, Rolle said.
The bodies of Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65, a married couple from Tennessee, and a Florida resident Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, were found Friday morning. They had been staying in separate villas.
Chiarella’s wife, Donnis, was flown to a hospital in Florida and remained in serious condition, Rolle said.
Michael and Robbie Phillips co-owned a travel business called The Sand Lady from Royal Travel and are survived by their three children and six grandchildren.
She posted photos of the resort’s beach on her Facebook page Thursday, saying she was there with her husband.
“Our hearts are grieving and broken but full of hope. We know our mom and dad are experiencing fullness of joy in our heavenly Father’s presence,” the family said in a statement to the media on Monday. “We already miss them terribly. Our parents left a legacy of faith in Jesus and generously loved their family and friends.”
Fox News has reached out to Sandals Resorts.
Robbie and Michael Phillips, two of the victims discovered dead on May 6 at Sandals Emerald Bay in Great Exuma, Bahamas. Samples extracted from the couple and a Florida resident who also died have been sent to a U.S. lab for testing. (Facebook/Thesandalslady)
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The deaths come seven years after a Delaware family became seriously ill at a resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. U.S. authorities determined that methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide banned for indoor residential use in 1984, was to blame and had been used at that resort several times.
Fox News’ Greg Norman as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.
