Autopsy pending in fatal hotel fall
OCEAN CITY -- The body of a person who fell from a sixth-floor window of an Ocean City hotel and died has been transported to the state medical examiner in Baltimore, police said.
Jessica Waters of the Ocean City Police Department said an investigation into the circumstances of the death are ongoing.
Police responded to the scene at the Fenwick Inn at 13801 Coastal Highway at 4:08 a.m. Wednesday.
Police are awaiting a report from the medical examiner, and will not release the victim's name until they know for sure whether or not it was a suicide, Waters said.
If it was a suicide, police will not publish the name in a news release, as per the department's normal policy.
Waters was not sure if next of kin had been notified as of late Thursday.
The death is the second in nine months at the Fenwick Inn. On June 24, James Robert Cullum, 24, of
Middle River, Md., died at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin shortly after swimming in the hotel's pool. The death was not considered a criminal matter, police said.
There was no lifeguard on duty at the pool -- nor was one required by law, officials said -- where Cullum's friends said they saw him go underwater and fail to resurface after a few minutes.
Hotel manager Greg Fleming said he preferred not to comment on the circumstances of Wednesday's death until police concluded their investigation.
"Obviously, it was a terrible accident," Fleming said.
He said he hoped the two deaths within a year of each other would not dissuade tourists from staying at the hotel.
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14
Jessica Waters of the Ocean City Police Department said an investigation into the circumstances of the death are ongoing.
Police responded to the scene at the Fenwick Inn at 13801 Coastal Highway at 4:08 a.m. Wednesday.
Police are awaiting a report from the medical examiner, and will not release the victim's name until they know for sure whether or not it was a suicide, Waters said.
If it was a suicide, police will not publish the name in a news release, as per the department's normal policy.
Waters was not sure if next of kin had been notified as of late Thursday.
The death is the second in nine months at the Fenwick Inn. On June 24, James Robert Cullum, 24, of
Middle River, Md., died at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin shortly after swimming in the hotel's pool. The death was not considered a criminal matter, police said.
There was no lifeguard on duty at the pool -- nor was one required by law, officials said -- where Cullum's friends said they saw him go underwater and fail to resurface after a few minutes.
Hotel manager Greg Fleming said he preferred not to comment on the circumstances of Wednesday's death until police concluded their investigation.
"Obviously, it was a terrible accident," Fleming said.
He said he hoped the two deaths within a year of each other would not dissuade tourists from staying at the hotel.
smuska@dmg.gannett.com
410-213-9442, ext. 14
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