Nearly a week after a Delaware woman came forward with her story of allegedly being brutally attacked at the Majestic Elegance in the Dominican Republic, the all-inclusive resort is addressing the incident.
In a statement issued on their Twitter Wednesday, Majestic Elegance shared the hotel’s side of the “confusing incident” from January 29 and refuted Tammy Lawrence-Daley’s previous claims that authorities and hotel staff had mishandled the case.
The hotel also argued that in the wake of the alleged attack, Lawrence-Daley, 51, requested $2.2 million in compensation and when she did not receive a “positive response, she disclosed her version of the case, four months after it happened.”
Lawrence-Daley did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Beginning the note, Majestic Elegance’s statement said that when Lawrence-Daley went missing one day after checking in with her husband and friends, it “rigorously implemented the security protocol provided for the cases when information is received of a guest in trouble.”
“According to her testimony, she was intercepted by a stranger shortly after 11 o’clock at night, but Mr. Daley reported her disappearance at 2:30 in the morning, and in a few minutes, a search operation began all throughout the property,” the hotel wrote.
“She was found at 6:40 in the morning at a restricted area of the hotel. She showed bruises on her face and had a broken fingernail, without presenting any other signs of violence on her body, and still being in possession of her purse, cell phone, and other belongings.”
Photos taken of Lawrence-Daley in the hospital showed her eyes swollen shut and dried blood caked over her face.
Official information from Majestic Resorts Punta Cana pic.twitter.com/97BIdz7aEE
— Majestic Resorts – 5* star luxury hotels (@MajesticResorts) June 5, 2019
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“The authorities were immediately notified and the hotel took on the responsibility of providing all necessary attentions, as may be confirmed by the available document given to the authorities,” the statement continued.
Majestic Elegance claimed employees went out of their way to “provide assistance and ensure that needs were met,” which included having a hotel staff member stay at the hospital with her and her husband, paying for hospital expenses, offering a complimentary extension of their hotel stay, and arranging travel accommodations for when they left.
“Upon her return to the hotel, special meals were prepared for her, as she had difficulty eating solid foods,” the hotel wrote. “During this period, a delegate from the United States embassy visited Mrs. Lawrence-Daley to understand the situation. She refused to present any legal accusations despite the recommendations of the local authorities.”
In an interview with PEOPLE on May 30, Lawrence-Daley said she allowed their butler to come to the hospital and stayed in the country three extra days to testify, but claimed the hotel did not cover her medical expenses once she returned home.
She also said that the evidence she provided, including the dress she wore the evening of her attack, was “lost” by authorities and the crime scene was not properly roped off, which she believes interfered with the investigation.
After noting that Lawrence-Daley allegedly demanded $2.2 million in compensation, the hotel acknowledged that authorities investigating understand “the scenario is still unclear, and that there are weak points, contradictions on the information offered, and that there are still unanswered questions in this strange and unusual case.”
The statement also said the company had “no opinion” about some of the authorities involved with the investigation who believe that Lawrence-Daley’s story “presents contradictions and confusing facts,” which the hotel claim casts “doubts on her testimony and leading to believe that information on the case is being concealed by blaming a hotel employee.”
The investigation remains ongoing and Majestic Elegance said it was continuing to cooperate with local authorities.
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Majestic Elegance’s statement comes just days after Lawrence-Daley’s husband, Christopher Daley, publicly criticized the police and hotel staff for mishandling the case.
Last Friday, Daley claimed to NBC10 that they delayed the administration of a rape kit and failed to follow up on evidence and share important documents with the family’s attorneys. During her interview with PEOPLE, Lawrence-Daley said she is not entirely sure if she was sexually assaulted.
A spokesperson with the Dominican Republic Attorney General’s Office told NBC10 her rape kit came up negative, but Lawrence Daley previously told PEOPLE her kit wasn’t administered for 48 hours, which she believes might have compromised the result.
“We had to force them to do a rape kit and that didn’t happen until 48 hours later. And even at that point it was an external swab, that was it,” Lawrence-Daley told the Associated Press.
However, spokespersons from both national and local police have disputed the couple’s claims that they mishandled the case, saying that as soon as they heard of Lawrence-Daley’s attack, investigators followed protocol collecting evidence, conducting interviews and taking her testimony.
“There is a lot of conjecture about the case, a lot of information that doesn’t match some of the statements,” National police spokesman Col. Frank Felix Duran told the AP. “We have to wait for the investigation to end.”
WARNING: Photo below may be distressing to some readers.
Speaking to NBC10, Punta Cana Tourism Police spokesman Ramón Brito said investigators found “incongruencies” and “discrepancies” in Daley’s interview with police.
Daley told NBC10 he and his wife went to a local courthouse in the city of Higuey before flying home to file a formal complaint with police. He claimed the couple and their attorney still have not received a copy of the complaint, despite requesting it.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Lawrence-Daley said hotel staff was unhelpful as well: She said that while she was missing, a staff member told the husband that it was possible she was drunk and sleeping it off. She also said her husband had to go to the front desk at least three times before security began searching for his wife.
WARNING: Photo below may be distressing to some readers.
According to the AP, after a three-month investigation, Majestic Elegance’s insurance company informed Lawrence-Daley in a letter that the hotel bore no responsibility due to the fact she was unable to identify her attacker. Lawrence-Daley told PEOPLE she was unable to see her attacker because her eyes were swollen shut from her injuries and she at one point lost consciousness.
“Litigation went nowhere. Stories are being squashed,” Lawrence-Daley wrote in her post. “When you are in unfamiliar places, or even in familiar places, please remember…be smart, be safe.”
Previously explaining why she decided to wait to tell her story, Lawrence-Daley told PEOPLE, “I had to take some time to heal before I could put it out there.”
“I’m in a place in my healing that I felt strong enough to be able to share it without breaking down and without worrying what others are going to judge me.”
“I’m at the point where I feel strong enough that I want to get this information out there because women need to understand they can’t walk around by themselves,” she adds. “I hate to say that, but it’s the truth. What I went through, I would never wish on anyone.”
Lawrence-Daley said that after a man grabbed her as she sought out a late night snack, she was then dragged down concrete stairs, around a corner, and into the crawlspace of an underground piped area filled with 2 to 4 inches of wastewater — an area Daley referred to as a “hole” — where she lay in horrific pain for the next eight hours.
“I call it a hole because that’s what it felt like when I was in it,” she explains to PEOPLE. “I couldn’t go anywhere. I couldn’t stand up and I couldn’t find my way out… I had no clue where I was. All I knew was I was in this hole basically buried alive.”
It was in this hole that she says the man, wearing a resort uniform, strangled her multiple times, kicked her in the head, and beat her with a club. She was found there hours later.
In contrast to the injuries the hotel claims she sustained, the mom of two says she spent five days being treated at a medical clinic for her injuries, which included the inside of her mouth being “ripped apart”, a broken nose, a fractured hand, and a partial loss of hearing in her left ear.
“I always said the one thing I loved about myself was my smile,” she shares. “I always have a smile for everybody, I love my sense of humor and that’s the one thing that guy stole from me. He stole my smile and that just kills me.”
from PEOPLE.com http://bit.ly/2Wgy24f
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