Domingo Ramirez Jr.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH, Texas — The wife of Arlington firefighter Elijah Snow, who died this summer at a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, doesn’t believe his death was an accident and she’s scheduled to appear on “Dr. Phil” later this month to discuss it.
Jamie Snow is scheduled to appear on Sept. 13 on the daytime TV show on CBS with Dr. Phil McGraw.
She believes her husband was murdered on July 19 during the couple’s holiday to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary, according to news release from the “Dr. Phil” show.
Mexican authorities have said that the Arlington firefighter on vacation in Mexico was accidentally asphyxiated when he became trapped in a window as he tried to enter a bathroom.
No signs of violence were found at the scene of Elijah Snow’s death at a hotel in Cancun, according to the State Attorney General’s Office for Quintana Roo.
In the days after his death, Snow’s relatives said they thought that his death was criminal, according to news reports. They said they believed that he was kidnapped and beaten.
“According to the report of the forensic experts, the cause of death was due to mechanical asphyxia due to thoracic-abdominal compression because he was trapped in a window when trying to enter a bathroom,” according to an account from the attorney general’s office that was released and translated from Spanish. Because of the height, Snow could not support his feet when the upper part of his body was stuck, and “he lost mobility and there was no point of support,” the report said.
Snow died at a hotel in Benito Juárez that is about 10 miles from the hotel where he and his wife were guests, according to the report.
The attorney general’s office said it would be in contact with United States consular authorities as the investigation continued.
Authorities have not said how Snow got to the hotel where he was found dead or why he would have tried to crawl through the window.
Jamie Snow searched for him that morning when he did not return to their room, and she was told that he had been found dead, according to KTVT-TV.
Family members did not believe that explanation and hired a local attorney who obtained photographs of the scene, according to the television station. Randy Elledge, Snow’s father-in-law, told the television station that it appeared that Elijah Snow had been beaten and possibly suffocated.
In a video promo for the TV show, Jamie Snow points out questionable bruises in photos of her husband’s body.
Elijah Snow had been an Arlington firefighter for eight years, according to the fire department. He was the son of Arlington firefighter Ronnie Snow, who died in 1985 during a training accident, according to Arlington fire officials.
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