The family of a public defender who mysteriously died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Mexico have suggested authorities are trying to cover up a murder by cremating his body.
Elliot Blair, 33, was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with his wife in the resort town of Rosarito, 20 miles south of the US border, when he fell to his death around 1.15am on Saturday morning.
Soon after the incident, local news sites reported that “authorities” considered his death an “unfortunate accident” and that he was intoxicated at the time.
However, his family said he was not drunk and was indeed spotted on the floor in clothes he would have slept in – underwear and a T-shirt.
Blair was staying in a third-floor room at the Hotel Las Rocas with his wife Kim, who is also a public defender, when he fell off the public walkway in front of his room rather than his private balcony.
The couple have stayed in the same room “a number of times” in the past five years, his family said.
It’s unclear where his wife was when he fell, but his family said they were provided with multiple versions of what happened and that Mexican authorities had not come forward.
The family of Elliot Blair (right), 33, who mysteriously died after falling from a hotel walkway in Mexico, have suggested authorities are trying to cover up a murder by cremating his body. He is pictured with his wife Kim
Blair was celebrating his first wedding anniversary with his wife in the resort of Rosarito when he fell to his death from the third floor of his hotel
“The family, who have extensive criminal justice training, believe with all their hearts that Elliot was the victim of a brutal crime based on their initial investigations,” family attorney David Scarsone wrote in a statement.
According to the family, the “Mexican authorities” mentioned in initial news reports have not made direct contact with them and “little to no” investigations have been conducted by the Rosarito Beach Police Department.
The facts of the case according to Blair’s family:
1. Elliot and Kim have stayed at Las Rocas Resort and Spa multiple times over the past five years.
2. Elliot was fluent in Spanish.
3. Also, Elliot and Kim had slept in that particular room on the third floor on a number of occasions.
4. Elliot was very familiar with the layout of Las Rocas Resort and Spa and its hallways and walkways.
5. The incident did not occur on the private balcony of her room, nor on any balcony.
6. The incident occurred on an open walkway in front of the front door of her room at Las Rocas Resort and Spa.
7. Elliot was not drunk at the time of this incident.
8. Elliot was found in his underwear, sleeping t-shirt and socks.
9. Little to no investigation into the circumstances of Elliot’s death was conducted by the Rosarito Beach Police Department.
10. Due to the inadequacy of the investigation, the family is forced to conduct their own private investigation in search of the truth.
“No one from the Rosarito Beach Police Department, their district attorney’s office, or any other Mexican official has reached out and spoken to them directly,” the statement said.
According to Scarsone, the only contact the family had with local authorities was through the coroner’s office, which had not completed a toxicology report as of 2pm Monday.
It has also been implied that the undertaker who has Blair’s body is urging him to be cremated, eliminating the possibility of a proper death investigation.
“Yesterday during a conversation with the undertaker it was suggested that he be cremated and the family insisted that his body not be cremated in order to have a thorough, full and independent investigation,” the family said.
At around 1:15 am on January 14, authorities were notified that Blair had fallen from the balcony of the Las Rocas hotel in the town of Rosarito, south of Tijuana and adjacent to the Tijuana-Ensenada highway.
Blair was a public defender for the Orange County Public Defender’s office. He and his wife Kim celebrated one year since their wedding in California in January 2022.
Local news site Patrulla 646 Código Rojo reported that hotel workers reported the accident to authorities and that Blair was lying face down unconscious when police arrived. When paramedics arrived, they said he was found dead.
A Facebook page dedicated to sharing news from the Rosarito area, Rosarito en la Noticia, shared an account of what had happened, noting that information was withheld by local authorities and citing reports from the California newspaper The Orange County Register.
The first clue that Blair was murdered appears to have been released by The OC Register on Saturday afternoon. The claim is not attributed, but reporters spoke to Orange County public defender Martin Schwarz.
Schwarz told the outlet, “We have been in communication with the family and are doing what we can to support them during this difficult time, including working with local and federal officials to help provide answers.”
A worker at Los Rocas Resort and Spa found California Public Defender Elliot Blair lying on the ground around 1:15 a.m. Saturday. According to his family, he was found in a T-shirt and underwear
His family insists he was not drunk when he fell off the sidewalk in the early hours of Saturday morning
The couple have stayed in the same room at Hotel LA’s Rocas “a number of times” over the past five years, his family said
“Here in Rosarito, the information has not been published,” wrote the author of the post Rosarito en la Noticia.
“An employee of the hotel reported the unfortunate incident to the authorities, who made it their mission to hide information,” they wrote in Spanish.
“Elliot was a loving husband, son and brother. Elliot’s tragic, untimely and suspicious death has left a huge hole in the hearts of his family and community that will never be repaired,” Scarsone wrote.