TARRANT COUNTY, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – The household of slain Arlington firefighter Elijah Snow is suing the Mexican resort the place he was killed on July 19, 2021, together with a neighborhood journey agent.
Elijah and his spouse Jamie Lynn Snow had been celebrating their 10 12 months anniversary on the Royalton Stylish Cancún Resort & Spa when the daddy of two was allegedly kidnapped and killed.
Jamie is looking for greater than $1 million within the go well with, introduced towards Mansfield-based journey company Let’s Go On Vacay, the Royalton Stylish Lodge Resort & Spa in Cancn, Blue Diamond Motels and Resorts, Inc. and Sunwing Journey Group, a privately owned journey firm headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
Let’s Go On Vacay offered the Snows with resorts and resorts to select from in Cancún, in response to the go well with. They selected the Royalton Stylish Lodge Resort & Spa. Blue Diamond Resorts owns the lodge along with greater than 45 different resorts positioned all through varied islands and international locations within the Caribbean and Mexico. Blue Diamond Resorts is a subsidiary that’s both wholly owned or managed by Sunwing.
Snow household
The incident occurred on the couple’s first evening the all-inclusive resort on the beachfront strip of resorts in a well-liked, Cancún vacationer vacation spot.
In line with the go well with, the Snows arrived early on the resort earlier than their room was prepared. The entrance desk gave them some bracelets, which they may use to get drinks. It was 10 am They went to the pool and socialized with different vacationers, a lot of whom had been from Texas.
In line with the go well with, “Because the day wore on, lodge bartenders poured, served and inspired most company to eat arduous liquor photographs that had been handed out at will with out regard to visitor security. In lots of cases, the lodge bartender not solely served these photographs however inspired the patrons to turn out to be extraordinarily intoxicated.”
At 4 pm, the Snows got entry to their room. They went inside, modified and returned to the pool bar. “Once more, the Snows continued to drink alcoholic drinks offered by the identical bar that had been serving them since 10 am that morning,” the go well with alleges.
At round 7 pm the Snows went again to their room and adjusted garments for a dinner reservation on the resort’s Japanese-themed restaurant. Whereas at dinner, the Snows had been served a bottle of Japanese sake. This was the one alcoholic beverage billed to the Snows lodge invoice or tracked as having been consumed by the couple, in response to the go well with. After dinner, the Snows walked to a martini bar positioned on the identical ground the place they every ordered a martini. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the Foyer Bar the place they had been once more served alcoholic drinks.
At 8:40 pm, Jamie advised Elijah that she was drained from the early morning journey and was going to move as much as their lodge room. Elijah stated that he was going to complete his drink after which return to their room. This wasn’t uncommon, as he was used to lengthy hours working as a firefighter. However Jamie was exhausted from the lengthy day of journey, in response to the go well with. She took an elevator as much as their room and went to sleep.
The resort has quite a few surveillance cameras positioned all through, in response to the go well with. Cameras are plainly seen on the entrances and exits of the lodge and all through the widespread areas of the lodge. Nonetheless, lots of the safety cameras weren’t working or in correct order that evening.
Months after Elijah’s loss of life, digicam footage was obtained after a number of irritating requests facilitated by the US Consulate’s Workplace.
Minutes after Jamie left the bar, video footage clearly exhibits Elijah getting into the elevator that Jamie had simply entered into an elevator carriage seconds earlier than. It allegedly exhibits Elijah, who seems to be intoxicated, stumbling by means of the elevator financial institution urgent the elevator name buttons. With no rapid response from the elevator, he then walks to the alternative finish of the elevator financial institution and begins ascending a round stairwell contained in the entrance of the lodge.
That is the final video surveillance wherein Elijah is seen alive, in response to the go well with.
No different video of Elijah was discovered or offered to the Cancun Police Division, the Mexican Legal professional Basic’s Workplace, the United State Consulate’s Workplace or, to his now widow, Jamie, the go well with alleges. Nor was any footage offered displaying Elijah leaving the property or strolling by means of the foyer areas of the lodge.
Jaime went to sleep that evening, solely to get up at 3:30 am and uncover her husband hadn’t returned to their room.
From 5 am to 10 within the morning, Jamie repeatedly notified lodge workers through WhatsApp that she couldn’t discover her husband. She communicated with lodge staff, repeatedly asking them to contact the police or authorities to assist discover Elijah.
His physique was discovered stuffed right into a small window in a included part of the Sundown Royal Seaside, subsequent to the resort. Elijah’s torso and arms had been hanging out of the small opening and his toes had been dangling inside a toilet.
Mexican officers initially dominated Elijah’s loss of life an accident.
A subsequent post-mortem carried out by Mexican Directorate of Professional Companies confirmed Elijah was already useless when Jaime began looking for him, putting his time of loss of life at 5 am that morning.