Eric Salata: Doctor accused of raping women after giving them laughing gas found dead in apparent suicide
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
NAPLES, FLORIDA: The doctor who was accused last week of raping sedated patients in his practice at a medical spa has reportedly been found dead in a ditch.
A Collier County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Gail Boulevard in Naples to conduct a welfare check on Eric Andrew Salata, 54, at 6.17 pm Monday, November 28. Salata grabbed headlines last week after being accused of giving his patients tequila and laughing gas before raping them. The responding deputy noted in his report that he contacted an unidentified individual who told him Salata left behind two notes, his wedding ring, and his credit cards at his home. The contents of the notes, however, were redacted from the report.
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According to Law&Crime, the company that managed Salata's ankle monitor contacted the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and said his monitor showed him parking at his home at 10 am and walking toward Gail Boulevard. The monitor did not report any movement after that point, per the incident report. The responding deputy said that when he searched the doctor's last known location, he noticed a boot sticking out of a wooded area nearby. He subsequently saw Salata’s body in a ditch with a gunshot wound to the head.
“I conducted a search of the area and observed a bottom of a boot sticking up out of a wooded area near the location above,” the report stated. “I continued to investigate and observed Eric laying in a ditch with a gunshot wound to the right side of his head and an exit wound on the left side of his head.” The investigator noted that a pistol was lying next to Salata's right leg. While his wrist was cold to the touch, the disgraced doctor appeared to be “freshly deceased with no signs of decay.” A Collier County Sheriff spokesperson said Salata's demise did not appear suspicious. However, the official cause and manner of death will be determined by a medical examiner.
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On November 21, 54-year-old Salata was arrested on two counts of sexual battery on a physically helpless person. However, he was released after posting a $100,000 bail the following day. Two women, aged 51 and 72, alleged that Salata sexually assaulted them after giving them laughing gas and tequila during a procedure at Pure Vida Medical Spa, which he co-owned with his wife.
Following Salata's death, Adam Horowitz, an attorney for one of the doctor’s victims, told The Daily Beast that the perp had "escaped justice." The statement read, “It is disappointing and frustrating that Dr Salata has escaped justice. It took tremendous courage for my client to tell her truth. She was ready to hold him accountable in court.”