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Doctor dies after he was allegedly beaten during Mexico vacation

An Alabama doctor was beaten to death and dumped in a ditch while vacationing in Mexico, his friends told local media.

William Thomas O’Byrne III, 54, was pronounced dead Wednesday at the University of Alabama Hospital, where he had worked as an anesthesiologist, CBS 42 reported.

He was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, when he went missing last week, according to the outlet. He later turned up at a hospital in Mexico before being flown back to Alabama for better medical care — but he didn’t make it.

O’Byrne’s friends told Alabama.com that O’Byrne was on a vacation with another group when he was severely beaten and left for dead in a ditch.

Birmingham authorities couldn’t confirm that account, saying that if any crime occurred, Mexican authorities would have jurisdiction. The US Department of State did not immediately return the outlet’s requests for information on the incident.





A US Embassy spokesman in Mexico City told the website the embassy is aware of the case and working to gather information for release.

O’Byrne’s friend Jason Hall told CBS 42 that he desperately wants answers.

“Hopefully the appropriate authorities will be able to work with Mexican government and other appropriate jurisdictions to figure out what happened,” he said.

Hall, who has known O’Byrne for seven years, told the outlet that his friend, who goes by Bill, also taught at the University of Alabama School of Medicine.

“He always exemplified the best humanistic characters of a physician, and I think trying to emulate that as much as possible is what I would like to do to honor his memory,” he said.

He was left horrified by the news, he told the station.

“Shock. Disbelief,” Hall said. “It was hard to sort of comprehend that something like this could happen to someone I know, so it was pretty devastating.”





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Filed under deaths , doctors , mexico , 3/2/18