Texas firefighter is found dead of 'mechanical asphyxiation' in Cancun hotel bathroom window - 10 miles from where he and his wife were celebrating their 10th anniversary: His family claim he was kidnapped and murdered
- Texas firefighter Elijah Snow was found dead last Monday near Cancun, Mexico
- Investigators say his cause of death was mechanical asphyxia from compression
- He allegedly got trapped trying to enter a window 10 miles from his hotel
- He and his wife Jamie were on vacation for their 10-year wedding anniversary
- The couple drank together but he remained out while she went back to the room
- He never returned and she learned of his death by 8.30am the following day
- Family suspects he was kidnapped but Mexican police say it was an accident
- Crime scene photos released to the family show bruises on most of Snow's body
Texas firefighter, Elijah Snow, was found dead in Cancun, Mexico last Monday
The Texas firefighter who was found dead in Cancun while on vacation to celebrate his 10th wedding anniversary died of 'mechanical asphyxiation', Mexican authorities have found.
Elijah Snow, 35, became trapped as he tried to enter the window of a bathroom at a resort about 10 miles from the one where he was staying with his wife, Mexican investigators concluded.
While Mexican officials insist that there are no signs of foul play, family members of the firefighter from Arlington suspect that he may have been killed after a possible kidnapping.
The night of his death, Snow and his wife had been drinking together in the bar of the resort where they were staying, family friends told KXAS-TV.
Snow's wife Jamie decided to go back to their room while he remained behind, and the wife became concerned when she woke up at 4am and realized he wasn't there, the friends said.
A firefighter for eight years and the father of two young children, Snow had been staying at the all-inclusive Cancun hotel with his wife to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary.
Snow, a father of two, became trapped as he tried to enter the window of a bathroom at a resort about 10 miles from the one where he was staying with his wife, investigators said
The couple were said to have been staying in the hotel zone of Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico
Local officials say his body was found at a different hotel to where he was staying
A friend of the family posted about the Elijah Snow's death on Facebook
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Authorities with the Quintana Roo State Attorney General's Office said in a statement that Snow died of mechanical asphyxia due to thoracic-abdominal compression.
The office said Snow was trapped in a window when trying to enter a bathroom window and could not place his feet on the ground, giving him no support point to release himself from the window.
'The circumstances in which the events occurred are being investigated,' officials wrote in a social media post from the state attorney general's office for Quintana Roo, Fiscalía General Quintana Roo.
Snow's body was 'located in a bathroom window' at a hotel but it was not the resort where Snow had been staying but about half an hours drive, or 10 miles away from the beachfront hotels of Cancun.
Elijah Snow and his wife Jamie were on vacation for their 10-year wedding anniversary
Adding to the confusion, Snow's wife, Jamie Snow, was told that her husband had in fact died after falling over a wall while at the Cancun resort where they were staying, but the family do not believe the explanation.
A local attorney managed to source photos of the crime scene that suggest Snow was in fact beaten to death, according to KTVT.
The couple had been celebrating their 10-year anniversary but Snow was found dead after just one night of the vacation. The name of the resort has so far not been released by authorities.
The pair are said to have enjoyed a few drinks at the hotel bar before deciding to head back to their room whereupon Snow stopped and went back to the bar, while his wife went to their room to sleep.
Jamie Snow woke up around 4am and went looking for her husband when he had not returned only to be told that he had been found dead having 'fallen between the walls of the neighboring resort.'
After the couple had been to a resort bar for drink, Elijah went back out to a bar. Jamie began a search for him at around 4am and was told he had been found dead by 8:30 that morning
Colleague Xavier Flores posted on Facebook about Arlington, Texas Firefighter Elijah Snow with photos of his body being brought back home
Elijah Snow's father-in-law, Randy Elledge, said that it appeared Snow had been beaten and possibly suffocated.
'You're supposed to be safe there,' Elledge said. 'You're at your resort, all inclusive, and have no intentions of leaving so you'll be safe. And you're not safe there.'
Snow was a firefighter in Arlington, Texas and had worked for the Fire Department for eight years.
His father Ronny was also an Arlington firefighter who died in the line of duty in 1985, the same year Snow was born.
Snow's remains were returned to North Texas from Cancun on Friday, where they were met by an honor guard and water cannon salute at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. His funeral will be held on Tuesday in Arlington.
He is survived by his wife Jamie, daughters Aubrey and Hannah.
