Bahamas Resort Victims Named

3 found dead at resort include couple from Tennessee
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 9, 2022 3:11 PM CDT
Bahamas Resort Victims Named
The bridge connecting Great Exuma and Little Exuma.   (Getty Images/Thomas Kloc)

Police have released the names of three Americans who were found dead in villas at a Bahamas resort Friday, but the cause of death is still undetermined. Police said Tennessee residents Michael Phillips, 68, and Robbie Phillips, 65, were found dead in one villa at Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Great Exuma, CNN reports. Birmingham, Alabama resident Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, died after he was found unresponsive in another villa. His wife, Donnis Chiarella, was airlifted to a Miami hospital and is in serious condition.

Michael and Robbie Phillips co-owned a travel business called Royal Travel, Fox reports. "If you want the most beautiful long private beach with clear blue water and you like to hear the waves lapping, see sand dunes and hear the seagulls talking—this is it!" Robbie Phillips said in her final Facebook post. The deaths remain unexplained, but authorities in the Bahamas say they do not suspect foul play.

Paul Rolle, police commissioner of the Bahamas, says samples from the three deceased Americans have been sent to a lab in Philadelphia for a toxicology report and results will take around a week, the AP reports. He says samples were also taken from their rooms and the surrounding area in case contaminants were present. Rolle says all four tourists went to a doctor Thursday night and said they were feeling ill, though they had eaten in different restaurants. The bodies were found around 9am the next day. (More Bahamas stories.)

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