Diver Dead in Belize

[Ayisha]

We don't know yet if this had anything to do with diving or not. This Ontario diver was found dead in his hotel room:

Belle River diver found dead in Belize hotel

Belle River diver found dead in Belize hotel

No evidence of foul play, coroner says
By Claire Brownell, The Windsor Star March 28, 2012
Jan Peter Sol, a 51-year-old retired GM worker from Belle River, Ont., was found dead in his hotel room in San Pedro Town, Belize Monday, March 26, 2012.
Photograph by: Family Handout, The Windsor Star
The family of a Belle River man is searching for answers after he was found dead in his hotel room in Belize Monday morning.
“I don’t really know much, other than what we’re reading in the paper from over there,” said his sister, Kim Straw. “It’s unbelievable. You don’t know what to think until you see him and he’s not here.”
Jan Peter Sol, 51, was on scuba diving vacation in San Pedro Town, Belize, visiting a friend named Mandy Lee. Another guest at the hotel entered his room after he didn’t answer the door and found him slumped on the floor.
Laurenzco Nicholson, the coroner who attended the scene, said there was no evidence of foul play when he examined his remains. “It looks like something happened before that, some kind of medical problem that made him unconscious and hit the floor,” he said.
Nicholson said the only sign of injury was a small gash on Sol’s head he believes was caused when he fell unconscious and hit the floor. He estimated Sol died between 10 p.m. Sunday and noon Monday.
Sol was vacationing alone and no one who knew him was aware of any medical conditions he may have had, Nicholson said.
Straw said Sol was a retired GM worker who had lived in Belle River all his life. She said scuba diving was “what he loved to do” and remembered him as a devoted father to his two children, who are in their 20s.
“Great dad, great guy. Everybody loved him,” she said.
Straw said she heard about Sol’s death after his friend Lee contacted the family. She said her uncle had been taking the lead in communications with the Belize police from Florida.
Police in the Central American country were awaiting the results of an autopsy Wednesday.​

 

[Jax]

Passings thread is here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/passings/415757-bandit318-jan-peter-sol.html

 

[Ayisha]

Thank you, Jax.

Peter, do you know if Jan was diving that day and if his death was related to diving? Thanks...

 

[Ayisha]

Here is an article with a little more information. While the victim was identified as a diver in the original article and he was there to dive, there doesn't so far seem to be any connection between his death and diving:

No foul play suspected in death of Canadian - The San Pedro Sun News

No foul play suspected in death of Canadian

Post Mortem results for Jan Peter Sol from Dr. Estradaban – March 30th, 2012

• Cause of death: Subdural Hemorrhage due to mild trauma. This could have been caused due to previous injuries.
• Noticed during the post mortem: bruises in scalp – could be caused by a previous fall, etc.

Police continue their investigation.
———————————————————————————————–
A Canadian national was found dead inside his room at a hotel in southern San Pedro Town. The person is 51 year old Jan Peter Sol and was in the country on vacation. While a full post mortem examination is expected to be performed on the body, San Pedro Police does not suspect foul play.

The body was discovered shortly before 10AM today Monday March 26th by one of Sol’s friends. According to SP Police, vacationer Mandy Lee sent her children to check on Sol sometime on Sunday. According to Police, the children reported to Lee that when they knocked on the door, Sol did not respond. Lee told police that she sent her children again on Monday morning but again there was no response. That’s when Lee became concerned and asked another friend living at the same resort, Howard Grosch, to check on Sol.

Police said that when Grosch went to check on Sol, he discovered that door was not locked. Grosch then entered the hotel room and discovered the motionless body of Sol, slumped under the table. Sol’s body was observed as semi-clothed, with a gash to the head and a small pool of blood next to him. Police believe that he obtained the gash after Sol either hit the edge of the table or the concrete wall before sliding under the table in a seated position.
Grosch told Police that the last time he saw Sol alive was around 10AM on Sunday March 25th when he was using the pool.
Sol’s body was taken to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital morgue for a post mortem examination. Beside the gash, Sol had no other signs of injuries on his body. Having processed the scene and following the initial doctor’s examination, SP Police explained that they have no reason to suspect foul play in Sol’s death.

Update
In speaking to Doctor Laurenzco Nicholson from the Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Poly-Clinic, he explained that Sol appeared to have died sometime between 9PM and midnight on Sunday. Dr Nicholson further explained that Sol may have died from some unknown previous medical condition which will only be determine following a post mortem examination. That examination is expected to take place on Tuesday March 27^th.

 

[Hatul]

It's odd to retire at 51. Makes me wonder if he had a medical problem.

 

[Magnolia3]

It's odd to retire at 51. Makes me wonder if he had a medical problem.

Not really.... if here were to have been military 18 to 38 gets you your twenty... 20 to 50 would have him working at GM 30 yrs.. again retirement time... Auto workers generally retire at the 30 yr mark.. they have generous pensoins..

 

[Dr Dog]

Not really.... if here were to have been military 18 to 38 gets you your twenty... 20 to 50 would have him working at GM 30 yrs.. again retirement time... Auto workers generally retire at the 30 yr mark.. they have generous pensoins..

Quite normal around here, where the big three have plants, noone anymore would make it to 30 years, but most people at that age from GM would have taken their "package".
Sad story though

 

[koozemani]

This is interesting. I found this while reading an article on another incident in the area. This was a comment left by a reader.

As a dear friend of the late Jan Sol I feel i must comment after hearing of this tragedy. You reported there was no foul play in the death of Jan Sol, and yet his dive equipment has yet to be located. The place where he was diving, has also not come forward. I would think that the very first thing the police OR the Sandpedro Sun should have done was to locate the diving log, and rule out any problems Jan may have experienced while on his last dive, but nothing has been done to even find the tour operater he was diving with. His cause of death can be directly related to his last dive. Can’t someone contact the Canadian Embassy on his behalf and at least look into this? His family deserves some answers and I am appalled at how your country is treating his death. When a man’s wallet and phone are also missing, how can you not report these things? Your paper makes it sounds as if nothing were amiss here, and that is far from the truth.

 

[Magnolia3]

Can you provide me with a link to this comment? I have friends IN the area that might be able to shed some light on this..

OTOGH, I have to wonder, IF this person knows all this info.. how do they know this and why are they NOT contacting ppl.. sounds fishy to me..

This is interesting. I found this while reading an article on another incident in the area. This was a comment left by a reader.

As a dear friend of the late Jan Sol I feel i must comment after hearing of this tragedy. You reported there was no foul play in the death of Jan Sol, and yet his dive equipment has yet to be located. The place where he was diving, has also not come forward. I would think that the very first thing the police OR the Sandpedro Sun should have done was to locate the diving log, and rule out any problems Jan may have experienced while on his last dive, but nothing has been done to even find the tour operater he was diving with. His cause of death can be directly related to his last dive. Can’t someone contact the Canadian Embassy on his behalf and at least look into this? His family deserves some answers and I am appalled at how your country is treating his death. When a man’s wallet and phone are also missing, how can you not report these things? Your paper makes it sounds as if nothing were amiss here, and that is far from the truth.

 

[koozemani]

I'm looking for the link. In another thread, "two snorkels dead in Belize" or some such, had this comment attached at the bottom of the article.

---------- Post added April 9th, 2012 at 04:21 PM ----------

Found it!

Two drown in snorkeling accident - The San Pedro Sun News

The article is about the other incident, but the comment I posted was at the bottom of the page where readers posted comments about the article.