Hotel Claims Woman Asked for $2.2 Million Before Going Public on Alleged Assault in Dominican Republic

Majestic Resorts in the Dominican Republic. Google Maps

A luxury Dominican Republic resort has spoken out nearly a week after a Delaware woman came forward with her story about an alleged assault that occurred at the hotel in January.

In a statement, Majestic Elegance claimed the woman, Tammy Lawrence-Daley, went public after the hotel refused her demand of $2.2 million in compensation.

“Mrs. Lawrence formally demanded a $2.2 million compensation agreement. After receiving no positive response, she disclosed her version of the case, four months after it happened,” the hotel wrote in their statement released on June 5.

Lawrence-Daley, 51, said she shared her story with the hope to warn others to keep their guard while walking alone in unfamiliar places and to express her frustration with the handling of her case.

Her Facebook post garnered extensive attention and was quickly picked up by the media. There, she claimed that the incident occurred while she was vacationing at the 5-star resort with her husband and friends.

She said after a night out with her friends, she became hungry and decided to head downstairs to get a snack. That was when she was attacked from behind and dragged into an unlocked maintenance room, she wrote in the Facebook post. She claimed she was then subjected to hours of beating, kicking, and strangling, before she was left to die.

In interviews with various media outlets, Lawrence-Daley and her husband criticized local authorities and hotel staff for mishandling the case and evidence. She also said attempts to settle with the hotel were not successful.

“Litigation went nowhere. Stories are being squashed,” she wrote in her Facebook post.

She also claimed that it took her husband and friends several attempts to request front desk security to assist with locating her. The staff allegedly told the group that Lawrence-Daley was probably drunk and had passed out somewhere, reported People.

“My husband and friends went to the front desk at least three times throughout the night before security even agreed to look for me. This consisted of them taking a quad to the beach and looking on the beach. The security at Majestic Elegance thought I was drunk somewhere. I went missing at 10:30 and was found over 8 hrs later. It was hell,” Lawrence-Daley said in her post.

The Associated Press reported that the hotel’s insurance company eventually told the 51-year-old in a letter, after three months of investigations, that Majestic Elegance bore no responsibility because she was not able to identify her attacker.

According to People, Lawrence-Daley could not see her attacker as she had fallen unconscious at one point and her eyes were injured from the alleged assault. Along with eye injuries, Lawrence-Daley told the news website that she had also suffered a broken nose, a fractured hand, a “ripped” mouth, and other internal injuries. She also partially lost her hearing due to the attack.

Lawrence-Daley posted photos of her injuries with her recount of the incident.

Moreover, AP reported that Lawrence-Daley has until July to find a Dominican lawyer who will take her case.

Responding to Lawrence-Daley’s claim, the hotel said Majestic Elegance “took on the responsibility of providing all necessary attentions” and that “a member of the hotel staff stayed most of the time in the hospital to provide assistance and ensure that her needs were met.”

The hotel also said that they had paid for all of Lawrence-Daley’s medical expenses and offered her, her husband, and friend complimentary extension of their stay in the resort. The statement also said the hotel prepared special meals for the 51-year-old as she had difficulty eating solid food.

Both the hospital and authorities have said there were inconsistencies in the case, which casts doubt in Lawrence-Daley’s account of the incident. The hotel said the case had “weak points, contradictions on the information offered, and ... unanswered questions” while describing it as “strange and unusual.”

Dominican Republic Police spokesman Col. Frank Durán told CBS News shared a similar view.

“There is a lot of conjecture about the case, a lot of information that doesn’t match some of the statements,” Durán told the news station. “We have to wait for the investigation to end.”

Durán also disputed the couple’s claim of mishandling, saying that authorities immediately investigated the case by taking Lawrence-Daley’s testimony and collecting evidence at the location of the alleged assault.

This comes amid news that three other Americans had died in their hotel rooms in two separate incidents while vacationing in the Dominican Republic last month.

The Epoch Times previously reported that Edward Nathaniel Holmes, 63, and Cynthia Ann Day, 49, were found dead on May 30 in their hotel room at a resort owned by Spanish-based Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts. The couple had died of respiratory failure and pulmonary edema, which is caused by excess fluid in the lungs.

In a separate case five days prior, Miranda Schaup-Werner, 41, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, suddenly collapsed and died in her hotel room owned by the same resort company after enjoying a drink from the minibar.