A Staten Island woman has become at least the seventh American in the last year to die while vacationing in the Dominican Republic, and family wants answers.
Leyla Cox, 53, of New Brighton was found dead in her hotel room on Monday, and her son William has claimed no toxicology report has been carried out on her because all the country's machines are broken.
Cox said that he was told by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo that his mother died of a heart attack, but in light of recent news reports about Americans dying during their vacations, he is not ready to accept the official explanation.
'I have a right to be suspicious,' he said. In a phone interview with the New York Post he explained: 'The Dominican Republic has not released an autopsy report.
'They will not do a toxicology report on her because they say the toxicology machines in the Dominican Republic are broken.
Leyla Cox, 53,was found dead in her hotel room in the Dominican Republic on Monday, and her son William (pictured together) says he is 'suspicious' after being told no toxicology report has been carried out on her because all the country's machines are broken
Leyla Cox, 53, of New Brighton, flew to the Dominican Republic on June 5. She was expected to spend a week on the island before flying back to New York on Wednesday, according to her son, William Cox
'I've been trying to get her body flown back to the US, so we can do our own autopsy and our own toxicology report,' he said.
'But unfortunately that will cost a fortune. And I do not have anywhere close to that sort of money.'
Toxicology reports - drug tests done on people who have died - cost thousands of dollars.
'They've put me against a wall where I don't have a choice,' William said.
'I don't know how she died. I don't know where she died — I know it was in a hotel. I don't know if she was in a room or at the bar.'
Cox says he was told by the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo that his mother died of a heart attack
Leyla flew to the Caribbean island on June 5 and was expected to spend a week on the island before flying back to New York on Wednesday, William told the Staten Island Advance.
The family says it is waiting for her body to be transferred from the hospital to Blandino Funeral Home in Santo Domingo.
'Once they have her, they're going to call me, and they're going to make arrangements with me,' said William.
Another factor that will likely complicate any attempt to find out what happened is the fact that his mother wished to be cremated - which would preclude any toxicology report.
Leyla was found dead in her hotel room on Monday June 10, just one day after her birthday.
Cox said he and his family had urged his mother not to go to the island given the recent events.
'My family wanted her to not go on this vacation,' he said.
'I truly believe if my mother was not in the Dominican Republic, she would have been alive right now.
It is unclear if Leyla Cox stayed at one of the resorts where other Americans have fallen ill. The Dominican resort of Punta Cana is seen in the above stock image
'With everything going on in the news right now, we think she's a casualty of what's been happening.'
Cox said he spoke to his mother days before her departure.
'I called her on a Sunday and wished her a happy birthday,' he said. 'I told her I loved her.'
It is unclear if Leyla Cox stayed at one of the resorts where other Americans have fallen ill.
Earlier on Thursday, an Atlanta couple said they fell violently and mysteriously ill while on a vacation to Dominican Republic.
Vanessa McNelley-Neal and her husband James say they were the victims of a 'very intense' sickness while on a break on the island.
Vanessa McNelley-Neal and her husband James have become the latest tourists to say they fell violently and mysteriously ill while on a vacation to Dominican Republic
Cynthia Day, 49, and Nathaniel Holmes, 63, of Maryland, checked into the Bahia Principe Hotel, La Romana on May 25. They were found dead in their rooms five days now and their families say they now plan to carry out their own autopsies on their bodies
Four American tourists have died at the Bahia Principe hotels and two at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana.
FBI officials say they're now investigating each of the deaths.
The brother of Shark Tank's Barbara Corcoran, John, was also found dead in a Dominican Republic hotel room in April. Corcoran said in a statement on Instagram Thursday that her brother had an 'existing heart condition and we believe he died of natural causes'.
But the family of Nathaniel Holmes and Cynthia Ann Day, who died at the Bahia Principe Hotel, La Romana, say they plan to carry out their own autopsies on their bodies.
Police believe the seven American tourists who have mysteriously died in the Dominican Republic over the past year may have been poisoned by bootleg liquor.
The Caribbean island has said the deaths are isolated incidents, but U.S. law enforcement sources told the New York Post that they are looking into who supplied the alcohol the victims drank in the hours before their deaths.
They also want to test the drinks to see if they contain dangerous chemicals.
One source told the Post that the FBI will take blood samples from the dead back to its Virginia research center for testing.
Most of the victims were apparently healthy adults, several of whom are known to have drank from their hotel room minibars before becoming extremely ill.
Lawrence Kobilinsky, a forensic science professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan, told the New York post that the symptoms of many of the dead and sick, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea are consistent with poisoning from methanol or pesticides.
Methanol is toxic form of alcohol used as antifreeze. It is a light, colorless, flammable liquid with a odor similar to that of ethanol (drinking alcohol).
'It looks to me, from what I've heard and read, is that something was added to the drinks or bottles in those little refrigerators,' he said.
Their attorney Steven Bullock told People: 'We are continuing to investigate the exact cause of death. The families are determined to find out what happened and why. At this time the cause of death remains a mystery.
'We look forward to getting the FBI findings.'
An autopsy carried out in the Dominican Republic said Holmes and Day they both died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema. Day also reportedly suffered from cerebral edema.
The McNelley-Neals told 11Alive they had been staying at the same chain of hotels as other Americans who have died or suffered from illness.
The couple first visited in October last year before returning a month
