3 Americans Die At Bahamas Resort: What We Know

NASSAU — Three Americans found dead last week at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas have been identified, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Michael Phillips, 68, and his wife, Robbie Phillips, 65, both of Tennessee, were found dead Friday morning in their resort villa at Sandals Emerald Bay in Exuma, according to police. In a separate villa, Vincent Paul Chiarella, 64, of Florida was also found dead.

Chiarella's wife, Donnis, was injured but survived. She was flown to a Miami hospital for treatment and is in serious condition, Bahamas police commissioner Paul Rolle said at a news conference Monday.

Samples were taken from the victims and sent to a lab in Philadelphia for toxicological examination. Results are expected within seven days, Rolle said, though it could take up to two more weeks for the pathology report to be completed.

Forensic scientists also took samples from the two villas to determine whether any contaminants were present, Rolle said.

During the news conference, Rolle said environmental health officials and police were still at the resort. He wouldn't speculate on what may have caused the deaths.

According to a report by The Associated Press, the Phillipses owned a company called Royal Travel, which specialized in arranging trips to Sandals resorts. The couple had three children and six grandchildren.

All four tourists went to a doctor the night before their bodies were found. Some were experiencing "nausea, vomiting and some symptoms,"Bahamas Health Minister Michael Darville told Eyewitness News Bahamas. They were treated and discharged before they were found dead the next morning.

The deaths come seven years after a Delaware family became ill at a U.S. Virgin Islands resort, according to The AP. Authorities determined that methyl bromide, a highly toxic pesticide banned for indoor residential use in 1984, was to blame and had been used at the resort several times.