How did Elijah Snow die? Texas firefighter's family believes he was kidnapped in Cancun
CANCUN, MEXICO: A Texas firefighter was found dead at a resort in Cancun while on vacation to celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary. While his family believes he was kidnapped and killed, Mexican authorities have said that he was accidentally asphyxiated when he became trapped in a window as he tried to enter a bathroom.
Authorities discovered the body of 35-year-old Elijah Snow, of Arlington, last Monday and opened an investigation. Snow's body was reportedly located in a bathroom window at a hotel, but it was not the resort where Snow had been staying. This hotel in Benito Juárez was about half an hour’s drive, or ten miles away from the beachfront Cancun hotel where he was staying with his wife.
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According to the State Attorney General’s Office for Quintana Roo -- the Mexican state on the Yucatán Peninsula -- no signs of violence were found at the scene of Snow’s death. “According to the report of the forensic experts, the cause of death was due to mechanical asphyxia due to thoracic-abdominal compression because he was trapped in a window when trying to enter a bathroom,” the attorney general’s office said on Friday, July 23. Because of the height, Snow supposedly could not support his feet when the upper part of his body was stuck, and “he lost mobility and there was no point of support.”
Authorities, however, have not said how Snow got to the hotel where he was found dead or why he would have tried to crawl through the window. The attorney general’s office is reportedly in contact with United States consular authorities as the investigation continues.
On Monday morning, July 19, his wife, Jamie Snow, searched for him when he did not return to their hotel room. The pair reportedly enjoyed a few drinks at the hotel bar before deciding to head back to their room the night before. Snow, however, stopped and went back to the bar, while his wife went to their room to sleep. Jamie Snow reportedly woke up around 4 am and went looking for her husband. She was later told that he had been found dead and had possibly fallen over a wall between resorts.
Family members, who did not believe that explanation, reportedly hired a local attorney who obtained photographs of the scene. Randy Elledge, Snow’s father-in-law, said that it appeared that he had been beaten and possibly suffocated. “You're supposed to be safe there,” Elledge said. “You're at your resort, all-inclusive, and have no intentions of leaving so you'll be safe. And you're not safe there.”
Snow had been an Arlington firefighter for eight years, according to the department. He was the son of Arlington firefighter Ronnie Snow, who died in 1985 during a training accident, according to Arlington fire officials. His body was returned on a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on Friday. His funeral is scheduled for 10 am Tuesday at Rush Creek Church, 2350 SW Green Oaks Blvd. in Arlington. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 pm Monday at Moore Funeral Home, 1219 N Davis Drive.