Records show one tourist found dead at Bahamas resort owns home in PCB

Published: May. 9, 2022 at 3:41 PM CDT
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PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - Records from the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office show a man who died after being found in a resort in the Bahamas last week under mysterious circumstances owned a home in Panama City Beach, Florida. His wife was also listed on the property, she was hospitalized in the incident. However, NewsChannel 7 is working to confirm if the couple was actually currently living in Panama City Beach.

Bahamas Police Commissioner Paul Rolle identified one of the victims as Vincent Paul Chiarella. Multiple reports stated Chiarella was from Florida. NewsChannel 7 confirmed through court records that Vincent owned a home in Panama City Beach. His wife Donnis Chiarella, 65, was airlifted to a hospital and is also listed on the property records.

A Tennessee couple was also found dead at the resort. Officials identified them as Michael Phillips, 68, and his wife Robbie, 65.

According to NBC News, They were all guests of the Sandals Emerald Bay resort in Great Exuma.

Donnis was airlifted to a hospital in Florida in serious condition, Rolle said at a news conference Monday. The hospital, HCA Florida Kendall in Miami, later said her health was upgraded to “fair condition,” NBC Miami reported.

Officials said they could not yet provide a cause of death, and were expediting the toxicological examinations with the help of a lab in Philadelphia.

“Once those samples are done, our pathologist will be able to provide an official report as to an exact cause of death and determine exactly what has happened,” Rolle said.

Officials said no foul play is suspected at this time.

But the commissioner said that samples from the premises were collected and will be tested to “determine whether or not there was a chemical” leak involved. An unsubstantiated report on social media claimed there was a faulty air-conditioning unit on site.

“We really want to know what caused this without speculation,” Rolle said.

On Thursday, a number of guests were taken to a clinic for nausea and vomiting and were treated, the island’s health minister, Dr. Michael Darville, told Eyewitness News Bahamas.

Staff alerted police on Friday morning after finding three guests dead.

Chiarella was discovered in his villa on the floor of his bedroom, while the bodies of the Phillipses were found in another villa. Michael Phillips was in the bathroom and Robbie Phillips was in bed, police said.

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