Brett Gardner’s son Miller Gardner’s autopsy results will take “at least two to three months” due to the outbreak of violence among gangs in Costa Rica.
The former New York Yankees athlete and his wife, Jessica Gardner, will have to wait up to 90 days to find out exactly how their 14-year-old died, a representative for Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency, Juan Pablo Alvarado Garcia, told the Daily Mail Wednesday.
He noted that local coroners are currently overwhelmed with the number of autopsies needed to be performed on murdered drug gang victims.
“We’re having a hike in homicides as these drug gangs battle for territory and every one of them needs an autopsy,” Alvarado Garcia explained to the outlet.
He also confirmed that an autopsy has been conducted on Miller, but the “full analysis” will take longer due to the “constant killings.”
“That’s the reality,” Alvarado Garcia bluntly said.
Over the last two years, Costa Rican gangs have been fighting over drug-trafficking territories, causing a spike in violence.
In 2023 alone, the country’s Judicial Investigation Agency reported more than 900 homicides — marking a record high in the previously peaceful destination.
Local authorities have previously stated that, the night before he was found dead, Miller and his family suffered from food poisoning after eating at a local restaurant near their resort, Arenas Del Mar Resort in Manuel Antonio, during a family trip.
However, they ruled out asphyxiation and have since theorized that he could have suffered an allergic reaction to the medication he received to treat the food poisoning.
Alvarado Garcia told the Daily Mail that they are “doing toxicology tests to determine if this medicine could have caused the death.”
Miller was found dead in his bed at the resort Friday morning.
His parents, Brett and Jessica, shared the devastating news on Sunday, telling their followers that Miller had “passed away peacefully in his sleep.”
“He was 14 years old and has left us far too soon after falling ill along with several other family members while on vacation,” the couple wrote in a statement shared by the Yankees.
“We have so many questions and so few answers at this point.”
The family described Miller as “a beloved son” who “loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends.”
“He lived life to the fullest every single day,” they said.
Brett and Jessica, who tied the knot in 2007, also share son Hunter.
Leave a Reply