About Jill

Thailand to start investigating future tourist deaths...

2011-08-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

It sounds like Thailand will start investigating tourists deaths. Crazy this was even an issue that needed to be corrected. Hopefully families won't have to go through what ours, and many other families, had to in order to get any information.

Rob

Phuket Expat Deaths Likely to be More Closely
Investigated After Chiang Mai Report
By Alan Morison
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
PHUKET: In the wake of a series of unexplained deaths in Chiang Mai
earlier this year, Thai authorities are acting to prevent pesticide
poisoning of tourists and to more closely monitor the causes of deaths
of expats.

The report by the investigating body is likely to resonate on Phuket
and in Pattaya and among envoys from many countries who would like
more thorough investigations of all deaths of expat residents and
tourists.
For Phuket and Pattaya, the most pertinent paragraph of the report
reads: ''Surveillance of hospitalised tourists, already in effect,
will be continued and a new protocol for investigation of fatal cases
is being adopted.''

It's too early to say how far-reaching the new approach will be, but
Thai authorities appear to be in the process of recognising that every
tourist and expat death - whether in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya,
Samui or Bangkok - needs to be properly investigated and an accurate
cause of death determined.

Too often, local investigating police make the only decision on the
cause of death. Chemical tests and autopsies are rare, and cannot be
performed on Phuket.

It was the death of 23-year-old tourist Sarah Carter that first
prompted an investigation in Chiang Mai - and other deaths became
linked until authorities were forced to instigate a full and proper
probe.

Official attitudes appear to have changed significantly since two
young tourist women, a Norwegian and an American (Jill and Julie), died
in mysterious circumstances after falling ill at the Laleena
guesthouse on Phi Phi in 2009...

http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phuket-expat-deaths-likey-closely-investigated-chiang-mai-report-14564/

Update from Embassy...

2011-05-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

This is in response to your e-mail earlier today titled "From Mother of
victim Jill St. Onge."

Charles Carson departed Bangkok about a year ago.

We have been in touch with our counterparts from the Embassies of Norway
and New Zealand following yesterday's new report about identification of
the pesticide clorpyphiros as a possible cause of the recent unresolved
deaths in Chiang Mai. As you know, the U.S. Mission has offered the
technical assistance of Centers for Disease Control personnel in
Thailand to assist the Ministry of Public Health in its investigation.
That investigation continues.

Extensive information about clorpyphiros is available on the
Environmental Protection Agency's website, much of it from academic
sources. It appears that the primary reason clorpyphiros is no longer
approved for use for non-agricultural applications (except in child
resistant ant and roach traps) is due to risks chronic exposure poses
for vulnerable individuals, particularly small children. I have not had
time to search this information exhaustively, but it appears that
extremely high concentrations would be needed to cause death as quickly
as happened to your daughter, Ms. Burgheim, or the individuals in Chiang
Mai. It is premature to link all nine deaths to clorpyphiros.

Investigators have still not released the final report in your
daughter's case, although we contact them regularly. Please let me know
about other questions you may have and know that you have our deepest
sympathy.

Sincerely,
Tim Swanson

Timothy C. Swanson
Chief, American Citizen Services
U.S. Embassy Bangkok
phone: 66-2-205 4049
fax: 66-2-205-4103

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

60 Minutes New Zealand Video

2011-05-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

60 Minutes in New Zealand went to Thailand to investigate the death of Sarah Carter. Sarah Carter died very much the same way as Jill and Julie on Phi Phi Island. Her friends and family have set up this website...
http://www.thailandtraveltragedies.com/

The 60 Minutes video is well done and they show a picture of Jill and Julie. They concluded pesticide used for bed bugs was the cause for Sarah's passing. We suspected this back in July 2009 http://jillstonge.blogspot.com/2009/07/another-death-and-update.html

The link to the 60 Minutes video is here and about 15 min long...
http://ondemand.tv3.co.nz/60-Minutes-Thailands-Tourist-Deaths/tabid/59/articleID/2782/MCat/22/Default.aspx

Lots of thanks to Buck for writing a multi-page charge document against the Laleena guest house and emailing it to everyone we could think of... including the King of Thailand. We have received lots of feedback from it and have shared it with Sarah Carters family.

...
Rob

Five deaths in a six-week spell

2011-03-09T19:55:00.000-08:00

This is insane!

Five deaths in the same hotel in a six-week time frame all having the same symptoms and the Thai governments response is...
"We have to admit that these deaths coming one after another are nothing more than coincidence."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10711193

This article also states that one of the ladies that passed was from Seattle. I was notified by the family of Soraya Pandola-Vorster that she was actually from Berkeley, CA. Keep her family and friends in your thoughts as they are going through the same frustrating process as we did.
"American Mariam Soraya Vorster, a 33-year-old from..."

...
Rob

Another tragic Thailand death

2011-03-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

So I have received a few emails from people alerting me to an incident that hits close to home. A young women that was from New Zealand, Sarah Carter, died while three others became very ill in a hotel in Thailand. She died fast and sounds like the same symptoms Jill and Julie had. From some of the articles I have read it sounds like her family is in the same situation as we are and Julie's family is in. They just want answers and some help from the embassy. I wish them the best, and am truly sympathetic for their loss.

Please give the articles a read and pass them on...
http://goo.gl/1slnj
http://goo.gl/oJ2Xn

Thanks,
Rob

Been about a year...

2010-03-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

March 30, 2009

The families and friends of Jill St. Onge and Julie Bergheim want to know what killed these two beautiful healthy women, and will not give up the investigation. It has almost been 11 months since their tragic deaths on May 3rd 2009 while visiting Koh Phi Phi Island and there is not a day or night that we, Jill’s family, her fiancé Ryan, and friends, don’t miss her. We are in communication with Julie’s family in Norway, and are working collaboratively to continue to gather information and find answers. If there is anyone out there that has some information regarding the deaths, please don’t be afraid to speak up. The truth needs to be revealed now in order to save future lives.
You can email any info to admin@phiphiislanddeaths.com

The Thailand investigation around the deaths of Jill and Julie is inadequate. The efficiency and quality of gathering forensic evidence is severely lacking in comparison to the U.S. standards. The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is able to make formal written requests to various Thailand agencies, but only Thailand officials are allowed to perform the actual investigations. We have contacted other numerous U.S. agencies for assistance, but are ultimately referred back to the Bangkok Embassy due to political reasons. This stirs the question: if this case involved celebrities or high ranking officials, would there be a greater motivation for investigation and sanctions from both government agencies?

Although Jill and Julie mysteriously died on May 3, 2009, air samples were not collected by the Office of Disease and Prevention until June 13, 2009, more than FIVE weeks later. The results of the air tests from rooms 2, 4 & 5 came back normal however room 6 showed results of extremely toxic levels of toluene, pyridine, methylchoride, and acetalene, which we understand to be lethal poisons. What caused room 6 to have such deadly levels of poisons in the air and where is it located in relation to rooms 4 and 5?

Material evidence from the Guesthouse was not collected until May 21, 2009, almost three weeks after the deaths. The Scientific Crime Detection Department from Phuket gathered evidence from the Laleena Guest House on Phi Phi Island. The material taken from the guesthouse included cleaners, bug-killer, tap water, and 2 air conditioning filters. Unfortunately almost 11 months later most of the evidence is missing and of the items collected, only the tap water was tested (results were negative). Thankfully, Lora O. Lund - Consul and Chief of American Citizen Services from our Embassy in Bangkok, has written letters firmly requesting the whereabouts of the missing samples. As of today, there is still no response from Thai authorities.

Another possible source for the cause of deaths, the nearby waste water treatment plant, has still not been investigated. Strong smells emanating from the plant were reported by both survivors, Ryan Kells and Karina Refseth. Every medical expert we have contacted indicated there should always be a vast restricted area around a waste water treatment plant and no businesses or homes should ever be allowed to exist in close proximity due to the lethal toxins they emit. Interestingly, at the time of Jill and Julie’s deaths there was a contaminated dirt canal running around the Guesthouse which almost immediately after their deaths was cemented over, which gives all appearances of an attempt to cover some evidence. Again, more questions are raised: Was it perhaps the combined toxic poisons from room 6 and the waste water plant that lead to their untimely deaths?

The canal when these deaths happened RIGHT behind Laleena Guesthouse...

The canal a few months later...

The scariest thing is that the Guesthouse reopened very quickly with business as usual. Rat Chuped, the owner of the Leleena Guesthouse, showed very little sorrow and appeared only interested in losing business. Travel to Ko Phi Phi should be prohibited until the source of the 2 deaths is found. More importantly, the guesthouse and all other businesses on Phi Phi need to relocate to a safe distance from the waste water treatment plant immediately. The plant should be inspected by impartial inspectors for safety before allowing unknowing tourists to stay in the area.

Both Jill and Julie were very healthy young women, so it seems obvious that something was inhaled at the guesthouse that took our Jill from us, and Julie from her family. We will not rest until answers are found. We know that there are those who are withholding vital information which could save lives and implore that anyone with any information to speak up in order to save future innocent lives as well as to honor the memory of those whose lives have been taken from them.

~Jill's Friends and Family ~

So it's 2010...

2010-01-16T18:54:00.000-08:00

Happy late new year. All I can say is 2009 was pretty rotten. I'm going to try to go into 2010 with rose tinted glasses. So far so good.

Here are some quick updates...

-Thailand is still a backwards country where just about every government stooly is corrupt and/or doesn't give a crap. Let me remind any of you who ever plan to go there... No other country has ANY authority over there! The embassies pretty much have to kiss the Thai governments butt to to even ask them a question. If something happens to you over there...pretty much tough shit.

-A new article came out today from PhuketWan.com I thank them for keeping the story going on their own free will and doing a good job at it. Here is the link. Please check it out. http://phuketwan.com/tourism/laleena-death-riddle-surviving-woman-speaks-12036/

-A free lance reporter named Adam Skolnick came across this story and has been working on a piece for Lonely Planet. It should be published soon. I'll post a link when it happens. Thanks Adam.

-Jill's Step Dad and Mom have used some of the memorial fund set up for her to place two benches (hand made by Buck,her step dad) and a bronze plaque at Millers Landing in Bass Lake, CA. The owners there are absolutely incredible and have been extremely supportive. Jill had many good times there, so if you are around the Yosemite area go check it out. Here is a picture of Buck and I installing the second (lower) bench. The plaque and second bench are above it. You'll have to go pay a visit to check them out. It's a beautiful drive.

I think that's about it for now.
Thanks for reading,
Rob

Some interesting Air quality results. What now?

2009-09-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

We got a PDF from the embassy of the air quality results from the Laleena guest house on Phi Phi island. Take note at the results from room 6...

http://www.phiphiislanddeaths.com/gasresults.jpg

So does anyone in Thailand think this is nuts? Or should people just expect to have toxic gas in their rooms? Room 6 wasn't the room Jill or Julie stayed in, but being this test was done on June 13th (over a month later) and toxic gases were found in the guest house on some random day, shouldn't someone look into this?

We're waiting to hear back.

Contact the Embassy...

2009-08-04T20:29:00.000-07:00

The lack of answers to the death of Jill and Julie is frustrating and disturbing at the same time. Please contact the embassy and let them know people are still following this tragedy. We would like some sort of action/answer/proof that something is being done to find out what happened.

Email the US Embassy in Thailand at acsbkk@state.gov Let them know we are tired of not getting results!

The contact there is Charles Carson. In the subject line put "Attn: Charles Carson in regards to the death of Jill St. Onge"

Another death, and an update.

2009-07-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

In light of this new article of a Kuwaiti girl that died mysteriously after visiting Phi Phi Island I thought I should update this blog.

First-check out this link to the article of the latest death associated to Phi Phi Island
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/young-tourist-dies-mysteriously-patong-11340/

Our heart goes out to the family. There truly is nothing worse. There are no words that will ease there pain.

Second-The Thailand autopsy report is a joke. It was about three pages long and most of it was margin space and emblems. I believe here in the states an autopsy report starts at around 20 pages, and for something like what happened to Jill would be much longer.

It did verify that there were NO drugs or alcohol in her system, so those bogus rogue Thailand reports from "Government officials" can be put to rest. The only bit of information we got out of it was a low level of the enzyme Acetylcholinesterase. Please take a look at this Wiki page about what could cause this enzyme to be lowered.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcholinesterase_inhibitor

We are still waiting for some more reports to be translated from Thailand, and we have been in contact with Julie's family (the young lady that also died in the same guest house).

I'll post again when there is something else.

Ongoing...

2009-05-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

This was published today. We are glad they are still looking into it...
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/phi-phi-deaths-officers-check-guesthouse-11145/

Also we DID get the tissue samples this week and they are now in the proper hands. I won't go into much detail as everything is still extremely preliminary, but the very very early results do seem to coincide with something affecting the lungs. Read Ryan's account.

Rob

What is going on in Thailand?

2009-05-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Another German tourist, Ernst Hermannweid, died very much the same way as Jill and Juile while staying in Patong!

http://www.phuketgazette.net/news/index.asp?id=7359

A slide show by Paul...

2009-05-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

A family montage Jill made a little over a year ago...

2009-05-13T15:13:00.000-07:00

Back in the States...

2009-05-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

Ryan, his folks, and Jill's remains arrived in San Fransisco this morning. Jill's ashes are now with her mother. Thank God every one made it back safe.

I came across this article today and thought it was interesting. Pretty much confirms that the officials in Thailand would like to keep this quiet.
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/why-pursuing-truith-matters-tourism-11084/

Also the US Embassy in Bangkok has a Twitter page. There isn't anything on there about Jill's death, but maybe we can use it as another avenue to let them know we are watching this closely.

Warm Regards to you all,
Rob

The Jill St. Onge Memorial Fund

2009-05-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

We have received an enormous amount of requests from people asking how they can help.

First and for most please keep the story alive. The longer this is in public view the more likely we will get a real answer.

Second - Hug your loved ones because they can be gone in the blink of an eye with out any rhyme or reason.

Third - We would like to have something good come of all this. We have set up a Jill St. Onge Memorial Fund. It will be used in a way we feel would represent Jill in the best way. Some ideas are starting a scholarship, establishing a memorial (Bench at a vista point or something along those lines) for every one to enjoy, helping other troubled travelers, using it to fund children art programs. This is very fluid right now. All thoughts and ideas on what would be a good way to represent Jill would be greatly appreciated.

You can donate using the PayPal button below. A website for the Jill St. Onge Memorial Fund will be coming soon to follow where the money goes and all the good things it will be used for.

Thanks to everyone. As soon as we get any new info we will be sure to share.
Jill's Family

Or in person at any Chase (formerly WaMu) bank.

Jill with Loveable mutt 'Sugar'

A tribute to Jill...

2009-05-08T08:08:00.000-07:00

One of Jill's closest and oldest friends wrote a loving article in her blog about Jill and how wonderful she was. Please give it a read. Thank you Shannon.

http://knitosphere.blogspot.com/2009/05/jill-st-onge.html

If there are any others out there please send them my way.

***EDIT Got some more great tributes to Jill. Check them out.***

http://thedoblereffect.blogspot.com/2009/05/tribute.html

http://lovedogranch.blogspot.com/2009/05/great-joy-and-great-sadness.html

http://goodtobetrebes.blogspot.com/2009/05/strange-week.html

http://thelek.com/blog/dating-in-la/for-jill/

Thanks,
Rob

In the Media...

2009-05-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

The story has finally been picked up by the Associated Press. This is a great tool to keep this in the NEWS. We now have more places to go to let the officials in Thailand and the Embassy know that this is important, we all care and to please get to the bottom of it.

One of the best things we can all do is to find the articles and post some comments on how you feel this whole ordeal is being handled and if you knew Jill let the world know what a beam of sunshine she was. The old saying "The squeakiest wheel gets the grease" is how we can keep this going.

It's easy to find where the articles can be found. I have been using Google News and searching "Jill St. Onge". The blog search found on the Google News search results page is also real handy. Here is a link to Google News with "Jill St.Onge" as the search...
http://news.google.com/news?ned=us&hl=en&q=jill+st.onge&cf=all&as_qdr=d&as_drrb=q

Thanks to all of you for your comments and interest. I'll post again when any more news comes my way.

Rob -Jill's Brother

P.S. Sorry if the wording is weird. My sleep fuel tank is on fumes.

Latest: Phi Phi 'Poisoning' Kills Two Tourists - Phuket Wan

2009-05-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

***>>>As new links to articles about Jill and Ryan come out I have been adding them to the list below. Once we get some more significant, verified info I'll post a new blog entry (which we hope is real soon). Our thanks goes out to the media, family, friends, and the kindness of strangers on getting this story the recognition it deserves.<<<***

It looks like some news agencies and blogger's are starting to take notice. Thank you to Rex for sending me this most recent article.

Latest: Phi Phi 'Poisoning' Kills Two Tourists - Phuket Wan

There are more articles out there too. Please visit the following links and keep the story alive so this isn't just swept under carpet. If any one finds any thing else please leave a comment with the link.

Thank you,
Rob

http://www.komonews.com/news/44513197.html <---News video from KOMO 4 Seattle, WA
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_050609WAB-thailand-death-KC.2878404c.html <---NEWS video from KING 5 in Seattle, Wa
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/peninsula&id=6800461 <--- NEWS video from ABC 7 San Fransisco, CA
http://www.kirotv.com/video/19390080/index.html <---NEWS Video report from KIRO TV in Seattle, WA
http://www.andamantimes.com/news/editorial/editorial-everyone-deserves-answers/ <-- With great pictures of Jill. Thank you Andaman Times for your persistent coverage.
http://www.andamantimes.com/krabi/phi-phi/urgent-cyanide-found/
http://www.andamantimes.com/news/update-phi-phi-deaths/
http://www.andamantimes.com/news/22-year-old-tourist-dies-at-phi-phi/
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Norwegian-Woman-22-Died-Hospital-t262695.html&st=25
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=16574
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-254369
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g293920-i5037-k2765227-Tourists_poisoned_in_Phi_Phi-Phuket.html
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1769166&tstart=0
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nettavisen.no%2Futenriks%2Farticle2619285.ece&sl=no&tl=en&history_state0=

How it went down straight from Ryan via Skype

2009-05-05T00:20:00.000-07:00

Jill and I had been on the island for 6 days in a bungalow with no A/C. We decided to splurge and get one with A/C for two days. So the night before we moved into the new place we went out late, because we planned to sleep all the next day in this A/C room. So we got to the new room around 11 am. slept for about 3 hours. I cant ever sleep that much but Jill was great at sleeping. I told her I was going to go check the internet, she said she would stay there.

I was gone about an hour. I came back hung out for another hour or so. We both were feeling hungry then. So I said I would go get some food, and bring it back, Jill stayed in the room. It took me about 45 minutes to get food and drinks. I went back to the room. We ate there. hung out another hour or so. We then decided to go walking around. We went and sat on the beach for a while, watched the sunset and had a little pizza. After that we met some friends, but the whole time Jill was saying her stomach wasn't feeling that great. So around maybe midnight she said she was going to go lie down. But I should stay out a bit.. So I did, I went back to the room around 2am, Jill was looking real bad, vomiting, I laid down with her to try to make her feel better still thinking it was the burger that was making her feel bad.

Probably around 4 am I started to feel bad and vomiting myself. That is when Jill looked horrible. I ran outside and found a kinda shopping cart thing, brought it back, scooped Jill up and put her in. I then started running towards the hospital screaming for help. That is when I met Per. He came out of his dive shop, and helped me push her the rest of the way,( about a mile) We got her to the hospital. They did CPR for about an hour to no avail. I now think that is why I didn't get sick, because I kept getting these breaks from the air in the room, while Jill kept staying in bed. She was exposed to the air in the room for probably 5 or six more hours than I was. I was vomiting at the hospital, but I thought it was just because of the situation. Now maybe it was from my shorter exposure to the air in the room

A shaky time line...

2009-05-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here is what needs to happen to get Jill home...

The funeral home in Bangkok has a person in Phuket to get Jill released from the hospital and transferred to Bangkok for the autopsy.
For Jill to get transferred to Bangkok the guy in Phuket needs to fax the paperwork to the funeral home in Bangkok. The funeral home then faxes it to the police in Phi Phi. The Police in Phi Phi need to sign off on it and then fax it back to the funeral home. The funeral home in Bangkok then faxes it back to the guy in the hospital waiting to transfer Jill. (This seems like a mess waiting to happen)
If all that works out Jill will be transferred to Bangkok Tuesday (our Monday...so today)
The autopsy will be done on Wednesday.
The cremation will happen no earlier then Thursday. If something gets delayed and she doesn't make it to that stage by Thursday the next time they can cremate would be Saturday as they do not cremate on Friday's.
Best case scenario is all this gets done and they can release the ashes to Ryan on Thursday. If any of the steps are delayed even a little bit this would set us back to at least Monday as the US Embassy is closed this Friday along with Saturday and Sunday.

This is very fluid and we hope changes for the better.
Rob and Paul

How it went down...

2009-05-04T13:43:00.000-07:00

Jill and Ryan (her fiancee) were on vacation in Thailand from February 12 through May 12. They went all over the place.... Bali, Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam, as well as, several small islands over the span of 3 months. They were due back on May 12th. On May 2 on an island called Koh Phi Phi (google earth it) is when and where Jill died.
From what we understand (and this most likely will be refined as more information becomes available) Jill had a mild case of food sickness. Pretty typical in Thailand and no cause for real concern as it happened a few times before. Jill went to her room to rest for a spell. Ryan stayed out to get lunch and check the Internet. When he returned a couple hours later he found Jill in pretty bad shape. Jill said she needed to go to the hospital. She was so weak he carried her until he found a cart. Ryan was screaming in the streets for help as she was deteriorating fast.
They got help from a great guy named Per. He helped Ryan get Jill to the clinic. Unfortunately by the time she arrived she had stopped breathing. They worked on her for around 45 min but to no avail. It happened very fast.

Where we are now...

Ryan took Jill's remains via jet boat from Ko Phi Phi to Phuket (google earth it)
Ryan is in Bangkok with his parents.
Jill's remains are en route to Bangkok for an autopsy and cremation.
There is news that two tourist staying in the same guest house as Jill and Ryan were struck ill the same way as Jill the very next night (apparently they rented it right away the next night!). One died very fast and the other is still in ICU.
We're waiting for the cremation and autopsy. The autopsy report will take around 3 months to get. Ryan and his folks will be bringing Jill's remains back. This could take a week.

Information is coming in slow and sparse. The time difference is a killer. As we get more substance or refined details we will post it here.
There will be a memorial in California. Ryan said there will be one is Seattle too. The locations have yet to be decided.

Thanks for all your support, prayers and love,
Jill's Family