Who Is Dawn McCoy? New Details About The American Woman Whose Husband David Harrison Died At Same Dominican Republic Resort As Other Americans
He's not the first...
Facebook When you go away on a tropical vacation, you're probably planning to do a few very specific things. You want to spend hours in the sun, with breaks to cool down in the ice blue surf, or maybe you want to go sightseeing, or maybe you just want to sit at a bar and knock back mai tais. Whatever your fancy is, we can all agree there's a reason we opt for tropical getaways: we love to relax.
But one popular tropical vacation destination has a figurative cloud over it these days, as growing numbers of Americans who travel there for vacation...don't come back alive. David Harrison and his wife Dawn McCoy loved visiting the Domincan Republic. But during their last stay there together in 2018, David died suddenly and now his wife Dawn McCoy thinks it might not have been as straightforward as the authorities led her to believe. Who is Dawn McCoy?
1. What Happened
In 2018, Dawn McCoy, her husband David Harrison, and their 12-year-old son were thrilled to be traveling to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. They were eager to go on vacation and to make new memories. Staying at the Grand Bahia Principe resort, they couldn't wait for their trip to really get underway. Tragically, what should have been a tropical escape turned into a living nightmare.
Not long after the happy family arrived, they decided to go on an outing and visited the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino nearby. It was there where, according to Dawn, her husband David became incredibly ill. Later on in their hotel room, he became non-responsive and Dawn called for help, but it was too late: her husband, who had just aced his last physical, was dead.
2. The Resort's Response
When Dawn noticed that her husband wasn't feeling well, initially she didn't think much of it. But once they returned to the resort she began to panic. She claimed that he kept waking up from his sleep, mumbling, incoherent and covered with sweat. She knew something had to be done, and fast, so she contacted the front desk and asked for emergency help. The medical team arrived 25 minutes after Dawn placed her first call for help and pronounced David dead. According to the Dominican authorities, David's death was caused by a combination of a heart attack and pulmonary edema — fluid built up in the lungs over time. “We went down there as a happy family, and we came home a broken family. I came home a widow and my 12-year-old son came home fatherless," Dawn said.
3. Coincidence, Or Something More?
Initially, after her husband's death, Dawn was in a fog. She was forced to pay between $20,000 and $30,000 to have her husband's remains transported back to the United States. Once they made it back to their home country, Dawn had David's body cremated so that his family could have the memorial service he had planned for them. But then, Dawn started getting suspicious.
You see, David's death wasn't the only one to take place at the resort and sure, while plenty of hotels see their fairshare of death by natural causes, Dawn did a little digging and was shocked to learn that her husband wasn't the only American to die under similarly surprising circumstances. What she learned changed everything she thought she knew about her husband's death.
4. Other Deaths
It wans't long before Dawn's suspicions began to grow following the untimely death of her husband David. “I started seeing all these other people that were dying of the same exact causes, which made me start to second guess,” said Dawn. A couple from Colorado came forward to report that they too became violently sick while staying at the same resort, just last year.
That couple should consider themselves the lucky ones. Nathaniel Holmes and Cindy Day of Maryland died together in their hotel rooms at the resort. What did authorities say took their lives? Pulmonary edema, just like David's death. Just five days prior to their deaths, Miranda Shaup-Werner stood up to get a drink from her mini-bar, screamed, collapsed and died. Miranda's family claims her death was also caused by pulmonary edema. Something is seriously wrong at the resort.
5. What Dawn Believes
While Dawn may have originally been satisifed with the answers she got regarding her husband's death from the Dominican authorities, that is now no longer the case. “I no longer feel like my husband died of natural causes,” she said. Dawn says now that she deeply regrets having her husband cremated and wishes instead that she got a second autopsy done of his remains when she returned home.
The resort is sticking to its story, at least, for now. But with the growing public outcry in the face of these deaths it's becoming crystal clear that they can't keep up with the story they've been selling. Something is wrong at their resort, and it requires a serious investigation. It's frankly the least they can do in the face of such tremendous loss that has impacted so many families.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.