Costa Rican authorities raid hotel in Gardner investigation

Almost six months after the death of Miller Gardner, the 14 -year -old son of former New York Voltueur Yankees, Brett Gardner, the authorities of Costa Rica made a descent into the hotel in which the boy was found dead, and a prosecutor suggested that the investigation could lead to an involuntary homicide case.

In his first interview with the media on the case, prosecutor Kenneth Alvarez told ESPN during a video call that the three -hour raid at the Arenas del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort in Manuel Antonio was to collect additional evidence linked to what an autopsy deemed to be death in carbone monoxide from Miller Gardner. This was the first official research of the hotel since the authorities went to the complex one week after the death.

“Let us remember that what was done at the time was the measure of toxic substances on the site,” Alvarez told ESPN. “Based on these tests, a second procedure was planned, which was carried out today to collect evidence.”

The television cameras waiting at the entrance to the hotel, three vans carrying agents of the Costa Rica (OIJ) judicial investigation service arrived to perform the raid.

Alvarez, who said the investigation focused on the potential allegations of guilty manslaughter, told ESPN that the authorities had searched the management, maintenance and accounting functions, recovering physical and digital evidence. The prosecutor also said that several hotel staff had been interviewed and “have always been collaborative”. There was no arrest or accusation in the case.

Brett Gardner could not be joined to comment on Thursday, and a Yankees representative did not immediately respond.

Alvarez said that public prosecutors had “constant contact with lawyers that the Gardner family hired in Costa Rica”.

“They knew the operation and we stayed in communication,” he said.

He added that the authorities coordinated with an FBI attaché at Costa Rica to help “guide the initial investigation and learn a little about the profile of people”.

Miller Gardner died on March 21 at the Costa Rican complex where he stayed with his family. Brett Gardner and his wife, Jessica, announced the death of their youngest son two days later in a statement published by the Yankees. According to the press release, Miller Gardner fell ill with several other family members on vacation.

Two days after this statement, an OIJ representative told ESPN that Miller Gardner and family members “went to eat in a restaurant and that food had made them sick”. In this interview, the spokesman said the OIJ had considered asphyxiation before excluding it. The OIJ later confirmed to ESPN by SMS that investigators thought that death was accidental rather than the result of a unfair game.

On April 2, the authorities said that the death was caused by carbon monoxide, which could have emanated from an adjacent “machine room”. In June, a prosecutor’s representative declared to ESPN that the case remained under investigation and that the prosecutors had asked “to determine whether the cause of the death was a homicide or not, and, in the affirmative, to establish responsibility”.

Miller Gardner played football at Lycée in Southern Carolina and wore n ° 11, that his father put on for 14 seasons of MLB, all with the Yankees. Brett Gardner, a popular team leader, was a member of the New York Championship team in 2009 and retired in 2021.

Independent journalist Victor Fernández Guérrez contributed to this report.