Woman dies at same Dominican Republic resort where Maryland couple found dead

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - A Pennsylvania woman collapsed in her Dominican Republic hotel room back in May at the same resort where a couple from Prince George's County was recently found dead. Her death now marks the fifth American to die on vacation overseas in a matter of weeks -- and three of those deaths happened at the same resort.

The U.S. State Department confirms 41-year-old Miranda Shaup-Werner -- a Pennsylvania woman vacationing with her husband at the Bahia Principe all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic -- died suddenly in her room. Investigators say back on May 25, she collapsed after having a drink from the mini-bar.

Five days later, 49-year-old Cynthia Ann Day and 63-year-old Edward Nate Holmes, an engaged couple from Prince George's County, were found dead in their hotel room at the same resort after they missed their checkout time.

Dominican authorities say in all three cases, the autopsy revealed the cause of death was a respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, which is caused by excess fluid in the lungs. A toxicology report on Day and Holmes is still pending.

Meanwhile, a Delaware woman named Tammy Lawrence-Daley said she was attacked in the Dominican Republic at another all-inclusive resort while she was vacationing with her husband and some friends. She posted photos of her bruised and swollen face on Facebook.

Lawrence-Daley says she suffered a broken nose and facial fractures after a man dressed like a hotel employee attacked her, dragged her into a maintenance room and assaulted her for several hours.

Then, a Texas couple -- David and Michelle Paul -- arrived in Fiji on May 22 for vacation, but then suddenly became ill. Authorities say they were provided medical treatment but both of them died days later. The CDC is now investigating.

All of the incidents remain under investigation but what happened has sparked many questions about safety heading into the busy summer travel season.

Bahia Principle Hotels & Resorts released a statement which said in part that it would like to clarify, "That these two events took place in two different hotels. The case of Mr. Holmes and Ms. Day remains under investigation by the authorities with the results of toxicology and histopathological tests still pending, thus the cause of death has not been determined. We disapprove of any speculation and conjecture on the possible causes of death and urge all to respect the families while the investigation is ongoing. To date, there are no indications of any correlation between these two unfortunate incidents. In both circumstances, established security protocols were followed, and we have maintained open communication with the authorities to provide information and clarification for each case."