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The bodies of Alain Noel, 56, and Christine Sauve, 55, of Quebec, were found by their son on Dec. 26 at the home the couple had vacationed in the Dominican Republic.
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Her brother tells PEOPLE that the couple had not been feeling well before their deaths and looked “tired” when they last spoke the next day.
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“It’s a big loss,” he says
Last month, a Canadian married couple was found dead while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. As family members wait for answers about what happened, they are talking about the couple’s last moments.
Christine Sauve, 55, and Alain Noel, 56, both of Quebec, were found dead by their son on Friday, Dec. 26, at their vacation home in the El Indio Village residential complex in Villa Riva, their brother Gilles Sauve Jr. confirmed to PEOPLE.
An autopsy has already been done and Giles says the family has been told they can expect preliminary results later this week, but the final report could take up to 4 months.
Without any definitive answers, there has been much speculation in the local press, including questions about whether the couple were murdered or died by suicide. However, Giles believes “that’s not true.”
Christine and Ellen were married for more than 30 years and raised two children — Jonathan, 30, and Sabrina, 28 — Giles says, describing the couple as good people with lots of friends.
“Allen was a big man but a really big teddy bear. And Christine was amazing,” says her brother. “He likes to do a lot for the family.”
Christine and Allen arrived in the Dominican Republic — where they found their retirement home — with their son Jonathan on Dec. 14 for the start of a month-long vacation.
While overseas, Giles says Christine began to feel dizzy and fall, prompting her to go to the hospital on Dec. 25, where she had her blood work done. When she went home later that day, she was given no prescription for her symptoms, but told to come back the next day for some scans.
Giles says that Allen also experienced some dizziness, but was so concerned about his wife’s health that he didn’t mention it to doctors.
After returning from the hospital, the couple FaceTimed their family in Canada. Giles says they both seemed “a little tired,” but didn’t report feeling dizzy at the time.
During the conversation, Christine said that she did not know the cause of the dizziness. She thought it might have something to do with his ongoing health problems — they both had high blood pressure and diabetes — though she couldn’t say for sure.
“It wasn’t obvious,” Giles says. “Nothing was really clear about that.”
In addition, they both mentioned having “stomach problems” but did not seem to eat any food.
Mostly, they were “very tired and exhausted,” but otherwise fine during the call, according to Giles.
“Allen showed me around his house because he had done some new little garden things and put up lights and,” he says, adding that his sister was “looking and talking” well, too.
The next morning, when Jonathan woke up at 9:30, he noticed that his parents weren’t up yet, which was odd because Allen, who worked in the family construction business, was usually an early riser.
Giles says Jonathan cleaned it up at the time, thinking they slept because they were so tired the night before. However, when they still hadn’t woken up an hour later, he went to their room and found them unresponsive in bed.
The first thing Jonathan did, Giles says, was call his sister Sabrina to tell her their parents couldn’t breathe. Sabrina then asked her brother to call the resort manager-owner, who proceeded to contact the local authorities.
“Everybody came and did what they had to do and they looked for a house,” Giles says.
Gilles and Sabrina arrived in the Dominican Republic about a day and a half later to be with Jonathan and help communicate with the Dominican authorities, which was difficult due to the language barrier.
Canadian officials arrived four days later to give the family the phone number of the funeral home, which they had already contacted.
Global Affairs Canada previously confirmed their deaths to Global News, saying they were in contact with local authorities to “gather more information” amid the ongoing investigation, but were unable to release further information due to privacy considerations.
Neither the Dominican National Police, the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, the Office of the Attorney General in the Dominican Republic or Global Affairs Canada responded to PEOPLE’s request for further comment.
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More than a week after the tragedy, Gilles says the family is doing well, but the deaths of their loved ones are difficult to process.
“It’s a big loss,” he says, adding that losing them at the same time has made everything difficult, especially for their children.
As for how he wants Allen and Christine to be remembered, his brother says it’s for their legacy of kindness.
Sharing an example, Giles says that after his wife died of leukemia a year and a half ago, his sister stepped in to help take care of their daughter, who also works in the family business. Now, because of his sister’s death, he says he does as much as he can to be there for his children.
“I’ve had two kids, but now I have four kids because I’ll take care of them,” Giles adds.
Read the original article on People
