The Dominican Republic insists it is safe to visit. But if you ask Will Cox, whose mom mysteriously died while vacationing at a resort in Punta Cana called Excellence, he'll tell you to stay far away. Cox appeared on Fox News on Wednesday to muse on all of the questions yet unanswered in his mom's death - especially in light of the eight other mysterious deaths as of late in the Dominican Republic.
Leyla Cox, a 53-year-old woman from New York, arrived in the Dominican Republic earlier this month to celebrate her birthday. She was then found dead on June 10. The resort initially reported the death as a heart attack, but Will says as long as he's known his mother, she has never had a heart condition.
WATCH: @BillHemmer and @SandraSmithFox spoke with Will Cox--a son seeking answers on his mother's death in the Dominican Republic #nine2noon pic.twitter.com/4tZWoHGHyV
— America's Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) June 19, 2019
"My mother never had any heart conditions," he said on Fox. "She was a very healthy person."
The police report provided by the Dominican authorities has "missing information," Cox continued. The resort has also changed its story at least twice. They first told the son that his mom passed away after being taken to the hospital. But in follow up reports they claimed to have found her deceased in the hotel.
"It started out very rough," Cox said of the Dominican Republic's cooperation.
He recalled feeling "pushed against the wall." They even "forced" him to cremate his mom's body within 24 hours.
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The Dominican Attorney General's Office has, however, finally approved the transfer of Mrs. Cox's blood and urine samples to the U.S., according to the U.S. embassy. Her old workplace, Richmond University Medical Center, has offered to perform the toxicology test.
Still, Cox is afraid he's "never going to find answers."
"Something is off," Jason Allen, whose brother Joseph also died in the Dominican Republic, agreed.
Allen, a 55-year-old otherwise healthy individual, died in his hotel room last week.
"Our stories are almost identical," Cox noted. "People need to be held accountable."
"I don’t feel safe in the Dominican Republic," he said. "I don’t think any American should."
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