Stepfather of the Texas firefighter found dead in Cancún says his actions were ‘out of character,’ as other family suggest he was killed

The stepfather of a Texas firefighter found dead in Cancún last week said he’s suspicious of the circumstances of Elijah Snow’s mysterious death. 

The 35-year-old Snow was on a 10-year wedding anniversary trip with his wife, Jamie, when he was found dead at a Cancún hotel on July 19. The hotel has not been named, and was not the hotel where he was staying.

Mexican authorities said in a statement that Snow’s body was found stuck in the window of a bathroom at the hotel. A forensic report listed the cause of death as “mechanical asphyxia due to thoracic-abdominal compression,” according to the press release.

Mexican authorities said there were no signs of violence at the scene and that the evidence “seems to indicate that it could have been an accident.” However, Snow’s family has expressed the belief that he was kidnapped and murdered. 

Snow’s step-father, David Oujesky, spoke to Good Morning America on Thursday. Oujesky said it was “so out of character” for Snow “to try and get into a room he shouldn’t be in.”

Other relatives went further and suggested that Snow had been killed.

“He just wouldn’t do that. The only way he would do that is if he was in fear for his life. And he knew that was his last resort — to try to get through there,” Oujesky told GMA. 

Snow’s father-in-law, Randy Elledge, has also voiced his suspicions about Snow’s death.

 

Elledge told CBS Dallas-Forth Worth last week that the family hired a local attorney, who obtained crime scene photos. Elledge said the photos appear to show that Snow was beaten over most of his body. 

Elledge and Oujesky both recalled the events leading up to Snow’s disappearance, in their interview with GMA and CBS DFW.

They said the Snows had a few drinks at the hotel bar the night of the disappearance. At one point in the night, Jamie Snow went back to their room to go to bed, leaving her husband at the bar. When she awoke early the next morning to see that her husband had not returned, she reported him missing to the police. 

Oujesky said that Jamie knew something was wrong as soon as she arrived to the police station to see an officer holding a photocopy of her husband’s driver’s license, according to GMA. 

“That is where they told her that he had been found and what they told her was … that it was homicidal without suspects,” Oujesky told GMA. 

Snow’s body was returned to the US last week, and he was laid to rest on Wednesday, according to DailyMail.com.