May 09, 2009

Jill St. Onge, 27, had been traveling throughout Southeast Asia for the past three months with Ryan Kells. The Seattle couple got engaged in Bali midway through their vacation, blogging about their travels along the way. They ended up at the Laleena guesthouse on Phi Phi Island in Thailand last weekend, where St. Onge died of a mysterious illness at 8:40 a.m. Sunday morning.

According to Kells, an employee of Avalon Glassworks, the couple dined with acquaintances on Saturday evening. St. Onge hadn’t been feeling well and excused herself at midnight because her symptoms had worsened. Kells remained with their friends for a few more hours and then went back to the room to find her condition had deteriorated. He said, ” She couldn’t breath, she was vomiting”.

Within 12 hours St. Onge was dead. Another tourist, a 22 year old Norwegian woman named Julie Michelle Bergheim, staying in an adjoining room of the bungalow, also died mysteriously at 1:30 a.m. Monday morning - see photo below.

An initial theory was food poisoning but Kells believes that the room they stayed in may be toxic. He admits that he wasn’t feeling well either but hadn’t spent as much time in the space as his fiancee. A 19 year old traveling companion of the dead Norwegian woman was also hospitalized, but is recovering.

Autopsies for the two women were conducted on Thursday at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. The grieving fiance traveled back to the U.S. with St. Onge’s ashes on Friday. He claims that the Thailand government has been trying to sweep the deaths ‘under the rug’ and their investigation has been virtually nonexistent.

Thai officials have told the family that it will be four to eight weeks before investigators are able to make a determination as to cause of death. St. Onge family members have obtained tissue samples that they have turned over to their own independent laboratory for analysis.

News source Phuketwan reports that three other deaths occurred at the resort a month ago. A 46 year old Norwegian man and two women died mysteriously. Their deaths are still unexplained and have not yet been linked to the latest deaths.

Jill St. Onge was a former bartender at Shadowland in West Seattle, where a makeshift memorial has been set up to honor their departed employee and friend. Friends have also set up a website to share investigation news.

http://jillstonge.blogspot.com/

The Jill St. Onge Memorial Fund

http://jillstonge.blogspo...nd_08.html

Family seeks answers in Seattle artist's death in Thailand

On Saturday, a Seattle man got word that his sister, Jill St. Onge,
a 27-year-old Seattle artist, died mysteriously in Thailand.

By Maureen O'Hagan

Seattle Times staff reporter

http://seattletimes.nwsou...nd08m.html

What day is today? Wednesday?

Rob St. Onge has no idea. It's been days since he's really slept, days of devastating news and impossible logistics, of anger and frustration and all-night negotiations with people half a world away. On Saturday, he got word that his sister, Jill St. Onge, a 27-year-old Seattle artist, died mysteriously in Thailand.

It appears she suffered some type of poisoning, Rob St. Onge says. Which is, of course, bad enough. The fact that this occurred on the other side of the globe makes it all the more terrible.

He and the rest of the family want answers. But how can they know if they're getting the truth?

"We have no idea how they operate," said St. Onge, who lives near Fresno, Calif. "We can't just go in there like John Wayne demanding stuff. ... You have a risk of insulting them."

For now, the family is muddling through the best way they know how — and relying on technology to move things forward.

The family spread the word about Jill's death via Facebook, where Jill had hundreds of friends. Rob St. Onge started a blog chronicling the case, and it already has 10,000 hits. He spends days posting updates, and talking with friends and family, while caring for his 2-year-old son. Nights are spent navigating the Thai bureaucracy, with the help of the U.S. Embassy.

When Jill and her fiancé, Ryan Kells, took off three months ago for a tour of Southeast Asia, the family was worried. But the couple wanted an adventure. Jill taught art through Seattle Parks and Recreation, and was trying to start her own silk-screening business. She also tended bar at Shadowland in West Seattle. Kells is a glassblower.

With only days before they were to head home, they decided to "splurge" on a room with air conditioning on the island of Koh Phi Phi. That evening, Jill started feeling sick, and they chalked it up to food poisoning. Within a few hours, it was clear she needed to be hospitalized.

"I ran outside and found a kinda shopping-cart thing, brought it back, scooped Jill up and put her in," according to a blog post Kells later wrote. "I then started running toward the hospital screaming for help. ... They did CPR for about an hour to no avail."

Kells also was vomiting that night, but has recovered, St. Onge said. He remains in Thailand, where his parents have joined him, waiting to bring Jill's remains back home.

Here's the kicker: Two Norwegian tourists staying in the same guesthouse were also sickened that night, according to The Associated Press. One of them died, and the other was in intensive care.

Speculation is flying. Was it some kind of chemical from the water-treatment plant next to the guesthouse? Something coming through the AC vents? Could they have been purposely poisoned?

"I think they've already ruled out foul play," St. Onge said.

He's been troubled, though, by some reports that seem to point the finger back at Jill.

"They're suggesting that these crazy tourists come to their island and do crazy things and get killed," St. Onge said.

The fact that Thailand relies on tourism has led some to wonder how officials there will handle the case.

Logistics have proved difficult for the family, which includes Jill's father, mother and stepfather in California, and a younger brother, Paul St. Onge, in Seattle.

Two Thai holidays this week and clunky communication systems have added to the frustration.

Authorities in Thailand are conducting an autopsy, and the family has asked for tissue samples tests can be run here, St. Onge said. Meanwhile, they wait, knowing the explanation for Jill's fate is in someone else's hands.

"I want Jill here," St. Onge said. "I want it to be solved. I want it to never happen to anyone again over there. ...

"I gotta remind myself it's only been, what, six days?"

VIDEO: Seattle woman mysteriously dies in Thailand

http://www.king5.com/vide...vid=359156

why in the world would he have the autopsy done in Thailand?!?

The autopsy was probably performed in Thailand because of Thai law.

Seattle woman dies from unknown causes in Thailand

By JOCELYN GECKER AND AMBIKA AHUJA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS

http://www.seattlepi.com/...eaths.html

BANGKOK -- Two young women tourists, one from Seattle and the other from Norway, have died after suddenly falling ill within hours of each other this past weekend at the same guest house in southern Thailand.

Thai police said Thursday they did not know the cause of death of the two, who were staying on Koh Phi Phi, a popular island destination for budget travelers. Theories include food or alcohol poisoning and toxic fumes in their bungalows, but nothing has been proved.

The mysterious deaths, especially if not soon explained, could deal another blow to Thailand's tourism industry, which has been battered by the world economic downturn and domestic political unrest that saw Bangkok's two airports closed down by demonstrators for a week last year and rioting in the Thai capital.

The American victim has been identified by her family as Jill St. Onge, 27, a bartender and artist from Seattle. She died on Sunday.

Norwegian media and the Web newspaper Andaman Times , which covers southern Thailand, identified the Norwegian woman as Julie Michelle Bergheim, 22. She died Monday.

Both had been staying at the Laleena guesthouse. Another 19-year-old Norwegian woman staying with Bergheim also fell ill with the same symptoms, but survived.

"One of them was vomiting so the guesthouse owners and one of their friends rushed her to the hospital on Phi Phi," said police Capt. Pantanan Santhong. "Another one later had the same symptoms. They died at the hospital. Doctors said it was due to dehydration and shock."

"Right now, we do not have any further information on what happened and how it happened," he said. We are investigating."

The bodies of both victims have been taken to Bangkok for autopsies but no results were available.

A number of theories have been floated about what could have caused the deaths. They include poisoning from food or alcohol and energy drinks, tainted water, cyanide poisoning from an unknown source, carbon monoxide poisoning and toxic fumes sucked in through the air conditioning - both victims were staying in air-conditioned rooms.

"I'm sorry about the lady tourists. but it is not my fault," Asan Buntam, the guest house owner, told The Associated Press by phone. "It was the same thing, their stomachs hurt and they were throwing up. ... I think it was because everyone went out drinking and partying."

The guest house is a 10-room backpacker hotel on the island where air-conditioned rooms like the ones both tourists stayed in cost about 600 baht ($17) a night.

St. Onge had been on a three-month tour of Southeast Asia with her fiancé Ryan Kells, according to a blog established in her memory by her family.

It cited his account of her death.

"From what we understand (and this most likely will be refined as more information becomes available) Jill had a mild case of food sickness. Pretty typical in Thailand and no cause for real concern as it happened a few times before. Jill went to her room to rest for a spell. Ryan stayed out to get lunch and check the Internet.

"When he returned a couple hours later he found Jill in pretty bad shape. Jill said she needed to go to the hospital. She was so weak he carried her until he found a cart. Ryan was screaming in the streets for help as she was deteriorating fast. They got help from a great guy named Per. He helped Ryan get Jill to the clinic. Unfortunately by the time she arrived she had stopped breathing. They worked on her for around 45 min but to no avail. It happened very fast."

Fewer details were available about Bergheim, who Norwegian media identified as coming from Drammen, near Oslo.

"I don't know if it was something she ate or if it was because she went out to party," guest house owner Asan said. "She came back at night and the next morning, the cleaning staff knocked on her door to clean. They saw her throwing up and my brother took her to the hospital."

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Additional reporting by Associated Press reporter Doug Mellgren in Oslo.

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On the Net:

Andaman Times: http://www.andamantimes.com/

Jill St. Onge memorial blog: http://jillstonge.blogspot.com/

I hope they swab the rooms for toxicology testing