Tainted drugs, elements of foul play not being ruled out by family after Dawson Creek man dies in Mexico

DAWSON CREEK -- The sister of a Dawson Creek truck driver is speaking out after her brother was found dead while in police custody at a detention centre in Mexico.

Samantha Hempstock’s younger brother Thomas Hempstock was vacationing at a RIU Resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, to celebrate his 32^nd birthday.

On December 12^th, one day after his birthday, Thomas was arrested by Mexican authorities for what hotel staff allege was aggressive behaviour.

He was taken into custody and detained at the Centro de Justicia Civica detention centre, where a guard found him at 2:35 a.m. in what was described as a “strange position” with a shoe lace around his neck, according to a police report obtained by Samantha through Global Affairs Canada.

Hempstock’s official cause of death was ruled to be suffocation by hanging.

“He was not suicidal-- definitely not,” said Samantha Hempstock in an interview with CJDC TV.

A toxicology report found a blood alcohol concentration of 0.04 and cocaine in his system.

Speaking from her home in Alberta, Samantha is questioning why Mexican authorities removed his belt and watch, but not his shoelaces.

She was given a description of surveillance video from inside the prison that showed Hempstock tapping his foot, singing, and even talking to himself.

At one point, he even took the shoelace and held it up to the camera, put it back on his shoe and laid down, according to Samantha. 

“It doesn’t make sense—aggression is not in his nature,” said Samantha.

She says her brother has never been arrested or in trouble with the law in Canada.

On December 9^th, Hempstock had met three unnamed men while at the resort—messages sent from his cellphone and obtained by Samantha, showed messages between him and a woman saying his new friends tried to fight him.

Samantha said according the hotel, there is an on-going investigation and is the reason why she can’t obtain surveillance footage.

She says obtaining that footage would help her find peace with the situation.

Overwhelmed with unanswered questions, she is filled with speculation as to the events that led up her brother’s death.

“I mean, he was positive for cocaine, so maybe there was-- maybe it was laced with something. Maybe the hotel drugged him. Was he being aggressive or was he freaking out?” Asked Samantha.

In an effort to gain more access to case files to have her questions answered, Samantha and her family are seeking the help of a lawyer.

“I won't be convinced until someone can actually, you know, provide our family with some answers, a lot of it just doesn't make sense,” said Samantha.

They have set up a GoFundMe page that is seeking to raise $4000 to cover legal fees.

“He was my baby brother. He was my best friend. And I just hope he wasn't scared to death,” said Samantha.