Dominican Republic resort questions U.S. woman's assault story, says she demanded $2.2 million
A Dominican Republic resort has responded after a Delaware woman shared her story of being savagely attacked while vacationing at the Majestic Elegance Punta Cana Hotel, CBS Philadelphia reports. Tammy Lawrence-Daley, of Wilmington, was on vacation with her husband in January when says she went downstairs on the property to buy a snack.
That's when Lawrence-Daley says a man wearing a resort maintenance hat and shirt strangled and brutally beat her. Lawrence-Daley suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket, nerve damage throughout her head and her entire mouth had to be sewn back together.
"It's very difficult, very difficult reliving," Lawrence-Daley said in an interview last week. "I could hear footfalls behind me. And before I could turn around, he plowed into the back of me."
Her disappearance lasted eight hours and the whole while she was going in and out of consciousness.
"When I came to, it was to him beating me," Lawrence-Daley said. "About the head. Kicking me and beating me."
On Wednesday night, Majestic Resorts sent CBS Philadelphia a statement saying that Lawrence-Daley received all necessary attention and care following the ordeal, and that she also demanded $2.2 in million compensation.
The hotel says that Lawrence-Daley was found at 6:40 a.m. by a hotel employee. Authorities were notified and an ambulance was immediately called. Majestic Resorts says a hotel staff member stayed at the hospital with Lawrence-Daley and the resort paid for all of her hospital expenses.
Majestic Resorts said Lawrence-Daley later demanded financial compensation, and after not receiving a response, she went public with her story, four months after the attack.
The statement provided to Eyewitness News mentions, in part, "weak points" and "contradictions" in Lawrence-Daley's recalling of her attack. The statement reads, in part:
"After their investigation, authorities understand that the scenario is still unclear, and that there are weak points and unanswered questions to answer in this strange and unusual case.
Some news media sources in the United States have reported on the story considering her accounts are true and definitive, instead of waiting for a final resolution of the case, that not only affects Majestic Resorts, but also tourism for the entire Dominican Republic.
Majestic expresses to have no opinion on the hypothesis of some authorities involved in the investigation, who consider that the story of Mrs. Lawrence-Daley while she was in the hospital, at the hotel and during conversations with police and prosecutors, presents contradictions and confusing data, which make such authorities doubt of her testimony and believe that information on the case is being concealed by blaming a hotel employee."
Majestic says they continue to cooperate with authorities as an investigation continues. Previously, police in the Dominican Republic said there were conflicting accounts of what happened.
"There is a lot of conjecture about the case, a lot of information that doesn't match some of the statements," Police spokesman Col. Frank Durán said Friday. "We have to wait for the investigation to end."
Lawrence-Daley's attacker has not been found. She says the police investigation led nowhere and the hotel has not taken any responsibility for what happened.
"I really hate the way they handled everything," Lawrence-Daley said.
