Indiana mum Stefanie Smith drank strawberry mojitos poolside and enjoyed an “exquisite” steak dinner at a five-star Caribbean resort the night before she mysteriously died on her flight home, she can reveal exclusively DailyMail.com.
Smith, 41, and her boyfriend joined close friends Maria Yannotti, 36, and Clay Sharpe, 43, for a five-night stay at the all-inclusive Iberostar Grand Bavaro in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
But the romantic couple’s getaway turned to tragedy minutes into their return flight when she began convulsing and was pronounced dead after the plane diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Stefanie’s stunned family is awaiting the results of a private autopsy to see what could have killed the cheerful X-ray technician from Danville, Indiana, who had no obvious pre-existing medical problems.
Stefanie Smith, 41, was minutes away from catching an American Airlines flight home from the Dominican Republic when she became fatally ill from an unknown cause on February 28.
Smith is pictured with her friend Maria Yannotti while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. Yannotti told DailyMail.com that she enjoyed mojitos and steaks during the trip.
The couples booked separate rooms at the adults-only Grand Bávaro, a luxurious beachfront retreat that features three pools, a golf course, private butlers and personal trainers.
Yannotti shared a photo from the trip with DailyMail.com. They stayed at the Grand Bavaro, where rooms cost more than $690 a night.
The mother of heartbroken teenagers Coen, 18, and Macee, 16, was the picture of health during their vacation, using the hotel gym and going for runs on the beach, Maria said.
‘Stefanie was a ball of energy and personality. She was very fun to be with. “She could make anyone smile,” the heartbroken friend told DailyMail.com.
‘What happened is simply devastating for everyone. We don’t know if it was just a freak accident or something more. Until we have the autopsy, it will be a complete mystery.
Stefanie, an IUPUI graduate, and her partner, who asked not to be identified, flew to Punta Cana on February 23 and met up with Clay and Maria during their connection in Miami.
The couples booked separate rooms at the adults-only Grand Bávaro, a luxurious beachfront retreat that features three pools, a golf course, private butlers and personal trainers.
The luxurious all-inclusive features five fine-dining restaurants stocked with high-end liquor brands and house wines from Spain, Chile, Italy and the United States, as well as a buffet and a “24-hour gourmet station.”
Punta Cana’s sun-drenched resorts came under the microscope in 2019 after a series of American tourists died under unexplained circumstances.
However, an FBI investigation later revealed that there was nothing sinister about the deaths, which were unrelated and attributed to natural causes.
“We didn’t leave the resort the entire time, it wasn’t necessary,” added Maria, who has stayed several times at the Grand Bavaro, where rooms cost more than $690 a night.
Smith, 41, and her boyfriend (right) joined close friends Maria Yannotti, 36 (third from left) and Clay Sharpe, 43 (left) for a five-night stay at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro all inclusive in Punta Cana. Dominican Republic
Cheshire Hall Medical Center in the Turks and Caicos Islands where Smith was pronounced dead
The two women drank socially but not excessively. Maria dismissed any suggestion that her fitness-loving friend was taking illegal drugs.
‘The level of alcohol consumption never went beyond what I would call a nice little high. We practically drink the same drinks. “We enjoyed the strawberry mojitos made with Malibu rum,” he said.
The four of them usually ate a mix of American and international dishes at the hotel buffet for lunch and breakfast, sunbathing or going to the beach throughout the day.
Smith worked as an x-ray technician at OrthoIndy Hospital in Indianapolis.
‘It’s a five-star hotel, very safe. I always felt very safe. The food was great. “Everything was very clean and well cared for,” María recalled.
On the last day of their stay, they left the beach around 5 p.m., went to their rooms, showered, and met up at El Galeón, a fancy surf and turf restaurant on site.
María and Stefanie chose the same main dish, ribeye, which they accompanied with a bottle of Moscato wine that they opened and served in front of them.
“It was exquisite cuisine,” María recalls. None of the group members complained of feeling sick at any point during the trip, and that night was no different, she added.
Afterwards, Stefanie and her boyfriend spent about an hour in Maria and Clay’s room, reflecting on their “amazing” vacation and promising to do it again, before everyone said goodbye.
Maria was flying home to Baxley, Georgia, on a different flight that left several hours after Stefanie took off from Punta Cana International Airport bound for Charlotte.
The pair texted back and forth, discussing how long the line at customs was likely to take, before Stefanie sent her last, disturbing message at 4:55 p.m. ET.
“Remind me to call you when we land in Charlotte to tell you a funny story,” he wrote, using the plane’s Wi-Fi.
At 6:12 p.m. local time, air traffic controllers in the Turks and Caicos Islands asked first responders to meet American Airlines Flight 2790, which was diverting to Providenciales International Airport due to a medical emergency.
Stefanie was rushed to Cheshire Hall Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
‘We were sitting in Miami on our stopover. The boyfriend called and said he had something to tell us. He said Stefanie had died. “She left and he wasn’t sure what happened,” Maria said.
‘He said he looked at her and her head was leaning back in her seat. She had her eyes rolling and at first she thought she was making fun of him.
“Then she started convulsing and that’s when he called for help and they performed CPR and the pilot decided to make the call to land.
‘It knocked me down. I was in complete shock. She had been texting him just minutes before receiving that phone call.
Smith was the mother of heartbroken teenagers Coen, 18, and Macee, 16.
Stefanie had recently divorced her husband Eric Smith, 44, the father of her two children.
The cause of Stefanie’s death was not immediately determined and an investigation is underway, Turks and Caicos Islands authorities said.
Her brother Chris Volz told DailyMail.com that he was not aware of his sister having any pre-existing health problems.
Stefanie, who worked at OrthoIndy Hospital in Indianapolis, had recently divorced her husband Eric Smith, 44, the father of her two children.
She met her current partner about a year or a year and a half ago, Maria told DailyMail.com.
‘Stefanie had just built a beautiful new house. She had a great job, two great kids. She had absolutely everything going for her,’ she said.
‘We all say life is short, live each day as if it were your last, that kind of thing. But you don’t really appreciate what that means until something happens to someone you love.
A GoFundMe appeal to raise money for Coen and Macee had raised $80,000 so far, and passengers on Stefanie’s flight were among those who donated money.
“I didn’t know Stefanie, but I was in line in front of her,” wrote Erika Remillard-Hagen.
‘When I was 41, my two children were the same age as hers. My heart breaks for her family.’