Middle Tennessee Couple Among 3 U.S. Citizens Found Dead In Bahamas

A couple from Middle Tennessee are among three U.S. citizens who were found dead at a resort in the Bahamas. The circumstances surrounding their deaths remains a mystery as investigators in the island country ask a lab in the U.S. to help determine what happened.

Three American tourists were found inside their separate villas at the Sandals Emerald Bay Resort in Exuma on Friday (May 6). According to investigators, the victims from Tennessee have been identified as 68-year-old Michael Phillips and his wife, 65-year-old Robbie Phillips, of Maryville, WKRN reports. Vincent Paul Chiarella, age 64 of Florida, was also found dead the villa he stayed in with his wife.

Chiarella's wife, Donnis, was still alive but unresponsive when police searched their villa and was airlifted to a hospital in Florida where as of Monday (May 9) she remains in serious condition, according to Paul Rolle, chief superintendent of police at Royal Bahamas Police Force.

Bahamian officials collected samples from each of the couples' respective rooms at the resort as well as the surrounding property to help determine the mysterious cause of death. Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said foul play is not suspected, FOX 17 reports. According to the news outlet, the samples were sent to a lab in Philadelphia for a toxicology study.