Dead in the swimming pool: Was Abbey Conner poisoned?

ABBEY Conner was found face down in a hotel pool after partying at a five-star resort. Police say it was an accident, but her family isn’t so sure.

Abbey Conner was on holiday in Mexico with her family when tragedy struck. Picture: Facebook

A DISTRAUGHT family is demanding answers following the death of their daughter who was found face down in a hotel pool after being given a drink by a group of men.

Abbey Conner, 20, and her brother Austin, 22, from Wisconsin, had been drinking at a poolside bar at a five-star resort in Mexico when tragedy struck.

Austin claims the pair, who were about to meet their mum and stepdad for dinner, drank a “Jägerbomb” shot before blacking out, reports USA Today.

And while the 22-year-old student was pulled alive from the pool with a nasty bump on his head, his sister Abbey was later declared brain dead.

Eventually, staff at the luxury Paraiso del Mar, in southern Mexico, pulled the siblings from the water and performed CPR on Abbey.

The 20-year-old, who was studying Public Relations at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, was unconscious, had a low pulse and had foam pouring out of her nose and mouth.

Abbey Conner was drinking in a hotel bar before being found dead in the swimming pool. Picture: Facebook

Austin insists the last thing he can remember before waking up in an ambulance is being invited to take a shot of Jägermeister mixed with Red Bull by a group of men at the bar.

The student now believes the pair may have been drugged.

He said: “I’ve been in college for five years and had my fair share of drinks before. No way in hell I’m putting my face down in a pool and going to sleep.

“Knowing that we got played or are victims of some sick person drugging us is almost surreal.”

Austin, who is 6ft 2in and weighs 70 kilograms, says he did not feel drunk although both he and Abbey had up to five shots of tequila before taking the Jägerbomb.

Speaking with USA Today, the siblings’ father Bill Conner said: “Somebody had to slip them some type of drug.”

Austin and his sister were taken to Hospiten Riviera Maya, which USA Today reports is not the largest or the closest medical centre to the resort the family were staying in.

Abbey, who had a cracked collar bone, had slipped into a coma and was placed into a ventilator.

Her medical records read that she had a “lack of oxygen to the brain and cerebral inflammation”, according to reports.

Abbey was on a family holiday with stepdad John McGowan (second left) mum Ginny and Austin when tragedy struck. Picture: Facebook

She was later flown to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where she was declared brain dead.

On January 12, her family made the heartbreaking decision to withdraw life support and all her functioning organs were donated, in accordance to her wishes.

In the days after the tragedy, stepdad John attempted to file a police report into the incident but Mexican cops insisted the cause of death was “accidental drowning” and reportedly “resisted” calls for a probe.

The concerned family then hired an American law firm to investigate and their report, released on Monday, has raised even more questions.

Investigators claim that cops only questioned three hotel staff following the incident and failed to talk with key witnesses at the scene.

The police report did not include any statements from hotel guests, the bartender who served the drinks or the woman who alerted staff to the pair struggling in the pool.

The family’s lawyer believe there could have been a scuffle which would account for Austin’s head injury.

Last month, Abbey’s dad Bill wept as he used a stethoscope to listen to her heart beating inside 22-year-old Loumont Jack Jnr after cycling 2,200kms to raise awareness of organ donation.

In total her organs saved the life of four men.

Abbey Conner's father Bill breaks down after listening to her heart beat inside her donor recipient.

Cycling from his home in Wisconsin to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mr Conner met with Mr Jack with the two embracing on meeting each other.

Bill told CBS News: “Knowing he’s alive because of [my daughter] Abbey.

“Abbey is alive inside of him — it’s her heart having him stand up straight.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun and is republished with permission.