Mar. 8 2024, Printed 4:00 p.m. ET
New particulars have emerged after a mom-of-two from Indiana died all of the sudden and mysteriously on her flight house from the Dominican Republic final month, RadarOnline.com has discovered.
In a stunning growth to come back after Stefanie Smith, 41, handed away in late February, sources near the deceased revealed that Smith loved mojitos and a steak dinner at her luxurious trip resort simply hours earlier than her demise.
Article continues beneath commercial
However flash ahead to her flight house from the Dominican Republic to North Carolina on February 28, and Smith reportedly began to convulse within the seat of her airplane. She was declared lifeless shortly after.
“We had been sitting in Miami on our layover. The boyfriend referred to as and mentioned that he had one thing to inform us. He mentioned Stefanie had died,” Maria Yannotti, Smith’s shut good friend who flew out of the Dominican Republic to Miami earlier than returning to Georgia, defined to Every day Mail on Friday.
“She’s gone and he wasn’t positive what occurred. He mentioned he checked out her and her head was tilted again into her seat,” Yannotti continued. “Her eyes had been rolled into the again of her head and he thought she was making enjoyable of him at first.”
“Then she began convulsing and that is when he referred to as for assist they usually carried out CPR and the pilot determined to make the decision to land,” she detailed additional.
Article continues beneath commercial
“It floored me. I used to be in full shock. I had been texting her simply minutes earlier than we obtained that cellphone name.”
Smith’s airplane reportedly diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands, and that was the place she was declared lifeless on February 28.
Yannotti additionally revealed that she and Smith’s surviving relations nonetheless have no idea what precipitated the 41-year-old mom-of-two’s sudden and mysterious demise final month.
Smith’s family members are reportedly awaiting an post-mortem to study whether or not Smith’s demise was a “freak accident” or else “one thing extra.”
Article continues beneath commercial
MORE ON:
Deaths
“What’s occurred is simply devastating for everybody. We do not know if it was only a freak accident or one thing extra,” Yannotti mentioned. “Till we get the post-mortem again it is only a full thriller.”
By no means miss a narrative — join the RadarOnline.com e-newsletter to get your every day dose of dope. Every day. Breaking. Superstar information. All free.
New particulars additionally discovered that Smith was an X-ray technician from Danville, Indiana. She and her boyfriend reportedly met Yannotti and one other good friend named Clay Sharpe at an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana for a five-day keep on February 23.
Yannotti insisted that nobody from their social gathering ever left the resort and, though she admitted that they drank throughout the trip, Yannotti additionally insisted that nobody drank “past what [she] would name a pleasant little buzz.”
Article continues beneath commercial
“We did not go away the resort the entire time, there was no have to,” Smith’s closest good friend instructed Every day Mail. “The extent of ingesting by no means went past what I’d name a pleasant little buzz. We just about had the identical drinks.”
“We loved the strawberry mojitos made with Malibu rum,” she continued. “It is five-star, very safe. I at all times felt very secure. The meals was nice. All the things was very clear, very upkept.”
A fundraiser has since been launched to assist elevate cash for Smith’s son Coen, 18, and daughter Macee, 16, whom she shared along with her ex-husband.
The fundraiser has reportedly raised greater than $80,000 as of Friday, and passengers from Smith’s deadly closing flight had been reportedly amongst lots of these to have donated cash.