Just hours after Elijah Snow and his wife Jamie arrived at Royalton Chic Suites, where they planned to celebrate 10 years of marriage, Elijah’s body was discovered wedged inside a tiny window at a nearby resort.
What was supposed to be a Texas couple’s dream vacation at a luxury resort in Cancun quickly became a mysterious nightmare that left their devastated family searching for answers.
Just hours after 35-year-old Elijah Snow and his wife Jamie arrived at Royalton Chic Suites, where they planned to celebrate 10 years of marriage, Elijah was found dead. The Arlington firefighter’s body was discovered wedged inside a tiny window at a different resort.
Police have said his death was an accident and that there were no signs of violence at the scene, but Elijah’s family disagrees, suspecting foul play and a cover up.
“It’s the most devastating thing you’ll ever go through in your life,” Elijah’s stepfather David Oujesky said. “We feel something is up. We want answers. We absolutely just want to know what happened.”
Hoping for answers, his family is now demanding the release of any surveillance footage from that night and is pleading with the FBI to intervene.
The couple arrived at the $400-a-night Royalton Chic Suites at around 12 p.m. on July 18.
After checking in, they hit the pool and began drinking margaritas.
Sunset fell, and Elijah and Jamie returned to their suite, where they changed for dinner.
They ate at the resort’s Asian-themed restaurant and by 9:30 p.m., they were heading to a bar for more drinks.
Later that night, Jamie returned to their room. Elijah stayed at the bar for a nightcap, but when Jamie woke up around 4 a.m., her husband had not returned to their room.
She notified the resort and a search was launched on the grounds. Around 7 a.m., Elijah’s body was found stuck in a small window at the hotel next door, the Sunset Royal.
The cause of death was ruled mechanical asphyxia due to thoracic-abdominal compression, meaning he was asphyxiated in the window.
But post-mortem photos shared by the family with Inside Edition showed Elijah suffered multiple large bruises and cuts to his back, legs and head.
“His body does have signs of violence,” pathologist and author Dr. Judy Melinek, who examined the photos, told Inside Edition.
“If the chest and abdominal compression from the window doesn't match up with the bruises on the legs or the injury on the head, then we need another explanation for those injuries,” Melinek said.
It’s a short walk from the resort where the couple was staying and the hotel where Elijah’s body was discovered. From the beach, the only way to continue is through a fenced off narrow passageway. To get through, he would have had to scale rocks and then climb down to the window, or walk through the Sunset Royal's front entrance, Inside Edition Chief Investigative Correspondent Lisa Guerrero found.
“This is not an area a tourist would just wander about and go to,” Oujesky, Elijah’s stepfather, said.
Oujesky said his family does not believe Mexican authorities when they say Elijah’s death was an accident.
“Absolutely not, we do not believe what the Mexican officials’ narrative is,” Oujesky said. “We totally believe this is a coverup.
Inside Edition reached out to both hotels for comment but has not received a response.
A change.org petition calling on President Joe Biden to "request that the Mexican government allow the FBI to review and assist with the investigation" into Snow's death has garnered 8,000 signatures and counting.
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