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.comThe 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 ~
