American dies in Immigration custody in Merida

Coroner's vehicle arrived at INM to remove the body of Van Jeffrey Endacott. (PHOTO: Por Esto)

Van Jeffrey Endacott, 56, had been arrested for disturbing the peace and turned over to immigration authorities for deportation….

MERIDA — Van Jeffrey Endacott, a U.S. citizen from Arkansas, had entered Mexico as a tourist, but his permit had already expired, and the National Institute of Migration (INM) was in the process of deporting him when he died on Saturday Sept. 23.

INM staff at the agency’s facilities on Calle 35 near Avenida Reforma in Colonia Garcia Ginerés found Endacott’s body in a dormitory, and according to at least one local media report, there was a pool of blood near the body.

However, the official coroner’s report found that Endacott died of natural causes.

Van Jeffrey Endacott. (PHOTO: Facebook)

Endacott had been arrested Wednesday Sept. 20 by the Municipal Police for disturbing the public peace in the center of the Yucatecan capital, but failing to prove his legal stay in the country, he was turned over to the INM delegation to resolve that situation.

About eight o’clock in the morning, INM staff went to take him breakfast, while the preparations were made for his deportation, but found him lying on a bunk and with a pool of blood around him.

The employees began to call him to wake him up and when they approached they realized that he had no vital signs, so
they requested the intervention of the Attorney General’s Office.

In the medical examinations that were performed on him at the moment of being admitted to the migratory station, the doctors reported that he had cirrhosis at an advanced stage, presumably because he was an alcoholic.

The American entered Mexico as a tourist, but the permit had already expired and the INM was in the process of
deporting him this Saturday.

Coroner’s vehicle arrived at INM to remove the body of Van Jeffrey Endacott. (PHOTO: Por Esto)


Ministry of Public Prosecutions and Expert Services of the Attorney General’s Office arrived at the immigration station to carry out the corpse for legal proceedings.

According to several local media reports, at least one security guard at the INM facilities aggressively threatened physical violence to dissaude photographers and reporters who were trying to cover the incident.

Sources: sipse.com; yucatanalamano.com, De Peso

more recommended stories