Body of Arlington firefighter was found in bathroom window, Mexican authorities say
An investigation is underway into how Arlington firefighter Elijah Snow died Monday while vacationing in Cancun, according to Mexican authorities.
On Twitter, Mexican authorities said an “investigation folder” has been started in the death of a man from Texas in the municipality of Benito Juárez in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo.
“The circumstances in which the events occurred are being investigated,” according to the social media post from Fiscalía General Quintana Roo, which is the State Attorney General’s Office for Quintana Roo.
“The body was located in a bathroom window” at a hotel, which was not the resort where Snow was staying, according to the tweet translated from Spanish. Benito Juárez is about a 30-minute drive, or 10 miles away, from the beachfront hotels in Cancun.
Snow’s cause of death has not been released, and results of an autopsy are pending. Family members believe he was murdered after possibly being kidnapped and trying to escape, according to media reports.
The attorney general for Quintana Roo, Oscar Montes de Oca, told KTVT-TV that the investigation so far has not found evidence that Snow was kidnapped but that the investigation is in its early stages.
Elijah Snow’s wife, Jamie Snow, told family members her husband had been found dead Monday morning while they were staying at a Cancun resort, and she was told he had possibly fallen over a wall, KTVT-TV reported. The family did not believe that explanation, and hired a local attorney who obtained crime scene photos that suggest Snow was beaten to death, according to KTVT-TV.
The couple were at the resort celebrating their 10-year anniversary, according to news reports. The name of the resort has not been released by authorities.
KTVT-TV first reported Thursday that Elijah Snow was found dead after the couple’s first night on vacation.
The television station reported that the couple had a few drinks at the hotel bar and decided to head back to their room, but Elijah Snow stopped and went back to the bar while his wife went to their room and fell asleep.
Jamie Snow went searching for him about 4 a.m. Monday when he didn’t return to their room, and she was told by someone that he had been found dead, according to KTVT.
Randy Elledge, Elijah Snow’s father-in-law, told the TV station that it appeared that Elijah Snow was beaten and possibly suffocated.
Elijah Snow’s body was returned on a flight to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport on Friday, according to KXAS-TV.
His funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at Rush Creek Church, 2350 SW Green Oaks Blvd. in Arlington. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at Moore Funeral Home, 1219 N. Davis Drive.
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.
To help the Snow family, donations can be made to the Arlington Professional Fire Fighters Charitable Fund.
This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 6:45 PM.
