Number 8 Jade Fox
On October the 31st of 2014, British backpacker Jade Fox was on a holiday to Fraser Island
in Queensland, Australia. She took part in a three-day “tagalong tour” of the island
but a friend who’d been travelling with her later reported that Fox was the only one who didn’t feel
safe driving during the trip. The Landcruiser in which she was a passenger was driven by an unnamed
19-year-old German tourist. While travelling at around 28 mph, the man was reported to have
momentarily looked down to change gears. The 4x4, carrying Fox and six other backpackers,
then hit a sand patch and overturned as the driver tried to correct the steering.
22-year-old Fox was fatally injured in the accident and it was later determined that she’d
succumbed to positional asphyxia. Following an inquest into her death, Remmi Sexton, the
friend with whom she’d been travelling, offered more information on the circumstances in which
it had occurred. She told a media outlet that they’d been told to keep a distance of 100 yards
between the cars in the convoy but that the lead vehicle was roughly 2 miles in front
and telling the others to “hurry up”. Fox was the only fatality but other members of the group were
injured in the crash and they subsequently sued the company organizing the tours.
Number 7 Ethan Williams
20-year-old Indiana man Ethan Williams had reportedly dreamed of visiting New York City
ever since he was child. The Indianapolis University College sophomore and a group of
friends excitedly made the long-awaited trip in October of 2020. On the 24th of the month,
Williams was sitting on the stoop outside his Airbnb, in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. Shooting
broke out nearby and Williams tried to run back inside the building but was struck in the chest
by at least one stray bullet. He was pronounced dead at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and, as
of June, 2021, the murder remained unsolved. The young man’s family reported that, during his high
school years, Williams spent time in Rwanda doing missionary work. His distraught father stated
that the young man would’ve already forgiven his shooter and would’ve wanted them to be his friend.
Number 6 Niamh Corrigan
South London woman Niamh Corrigan and her Scottish fiancé, Peter Fortuna,
were visiting Thailand for a friend’s wedding, in December of 2015. According to friends and family,
they’d planned to spend some time exploring the country, described as a dream destination for
them, after the wedding and before returning to the UK. On the day of their arrival, the couple
went out for a meal and then decided to take a tuk tuk upon heading back to their Phuket hotel,
at around 2:30 am. At some point during the drive, they reached bumpy mountain roads, which had steep
inclines and twisting turns. 29-year-old Corrigan started experiencing motion sickness and got up
in an attempt to move closer to her partner. Simultaneously, the tuk tuk climbed a steep hill
and then made a sharp turn while reportedly travelling at under 25 mph. The sudden movement
caused Corrigan to be rapidly flung to the back of the vehicle. Fortuna tried grabbing his partner
but was unable to reach her in time and Corrigan fell out of the tuk tuk. Fortuna shouted at the
driver to stop and then went to check on her but found the woman unresponsive and bleeding
from her head. Fortuna relentlessly attempted to resuscitate Corrigan before paramedics arrived at
the scene but she was ultimately pronounced dead. Number 5 David and Michelle Paul
In May of 2019, a Texas married couple died days apart after falling violently ill during
a dream trip to Fiji. Shortly after David and Michelle Paul had arrived on Denarau Island,
on May the 22nd, the latter texted her parents to say that she and her husband
had been throwing up for eight hours straight. The 35-year-old former student athlete added that they
were going to go see a doctor, and that they’d text back whenever possible. The couple, both
described as very healthy and physically fit, was reportedly given anti-nausea medication and fluids
but their health continued to rapidly deteriorate. Michelle died first, on May the 27th, and David
passed away two days later amidst plans to transport him to Australia for further treatment.
Preliminary investigative reports suggested that they’d succumbed to a mysterious illness after a
few locals with whom they’d come into contact allegedly exhibited similar symptoms. However,
Fiji officials announced in late June that, after extensive analysis and examination, they’d
“identified no infectious causative agent” and illness was largely ruled out. The finding invited
speculation that the couple had been poisoned but the cause or circumstances remained unclear.
Number 4 2017 Westminster Attack Utah couple Melissa and Kurt Cochran were visiting
England, in March of 2017, to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They’d only planned
to spend one day in London and wanted to do as much sightseeing as possible. A little over two
hours into their visit of the capital city, on March the 22nd, the couple were on the south side
of Westminster Bridge when Melissa heard a car revving in the distance. 52-year-old British man
Khalid Masood then intentionally drove his Hyundai Tucson, at up to 76 mph, into pedestrians on the
bridge, ultimately injuring over 50 of them. 54-year-old Kurt had managed to push Melissa
out of the way before he was run over and killed by the vehicle. In the aftermath,
the chief coroner on the inquest associated with the incident praised Kurt’s “instinctive bravery”
in protecting his wife. Three other people were fatally injured during Masood’s rampage,
including Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea who’d been thrown over the bridge parapet and into the
River Thames by the impact. The 31-year-old was pulled from the river by the crew of a river
cruise, after having been knocked unconscious and sustaining severe injuries in the fall.
Cristea was removed from life support on April the 6th. Her Romanian boyfriend,
who’d reportedly planned to propose to her on the trip, was also hurt in the attack but he survived.
After the bridge spree, Masood crashed the rented car into the fenced perimeter surrounding the
Palace of Westminster grounds. Unarmed police officer Keith Palmer stopped the knife-wielding
Masood from entering the palace but later passed away from critical stab wounds. The
heroic intervention delayed Masood long enough for an armed officer to arrive at the scene and
shoot him dead. The entire incident, confirmed as a terror attack, lasted only 82 seconds.
Number 3 Khuram Shaikh In the winter of 2011, Red Cross
worker Khuram Shaikh and his Russian girlfriend, 23-year-old Victoria Alexandrovna, were on holiday
in Sri Lanka. In the previous months, Shaikh, originally from England’s Greater Manchester area,
had been fitting prosthetic limbs in Gaza. He and Alexandrovna were looking forward to spending
Christmas and New Year’s Eve on the island nation. The Tangalle resort where they’d been staying was
owned by local politician Sampath Vidanapathirana, who reportedly had ties to then-President
Mahinda Rajapaksa. On Christmas Day, while on the resort’s dance floor, Shaikh intervened to help a
hotel worker as he was being attacked by a group of several men, who were led by Vidanapathirana.
The attackers then turned their attention on Shaikh, fatally shooting and stabbing him,
before assaulting Alexandrovna. She survived the prolonged abuse and was found on the beach with
her clothes torn apart, a bleeding head injury and bruises on her body. The trial for those involved
was delayed for roughly two years, an aspect attributed to council leader Vidanapathirana’s
political connections. However, following intense pressure from the victims’ families
and the UK government, Vidanapathirana was jailed for 20 years along with accomplices Lahiru Kelum,
U. Sama Deshapriya and Praneeth Chathurang. In July of 2014, they’d been found guilty of
culpable homicide not amounting to murder and the assault of Alexandrovna. The incident was one of
several which Rajapaksa’s political opposition claimed highlighted the corruption which had
overtaken the country. The mounting negative reactions eventually led to Rajapaksa’s defeat
in the 2015 presidential election. Number 2 Marie Kuhnla
New York public defender Marie Kuhnla, aged 61, was vacationing with a group of friends
at the Club Med Turkoise resort in Turks and Caicos, in October of 2018. After a day of
drinking at the pool, Kuhnla disappeared and was consequently reported missing to local authorities
by her companions. Her lifeless body was found, on October the 16th,
in some bushes near her accommodations and it was determined that she’d been strangled to death. The
Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force failed to solve the case, prompting her family to hire a
private investigator. The findings that followed suggested that Kuhnla’s murder had been a vicious
and deliberate act, potentially covered up by the resort and permeated by a lack of interest,
if not complicity, exhibited by local police. Even though Kuhnla’s body had been kept by the Turks
and Caicos authorities long enough for severe decomposition to occur, it was still evident that
she’d been assaulted prior to being strangled. There was bruising on her rib, cuts on her knees,
in addition to her underwear being inside out. In 2020, Kuhnla’s family filed a $10 million
wrongful death lawsuit against Club Med. It accused Frank Yancullo, a guest and former
employee at the resort, of killing Kuhnla and the resort of covering it up. A fellow Long Islander,
Yancullo had attached himself to her group and one of the women, identified as Helma Hermans,
claimed to have been inappropriately touched by him while in the pool. Yacullo maintained
his innocence and wasn’t charged in connection to the killing. Updates from December of 2021
indicated that Kuhnla’s family was still trying to obtain evidence from the local coroner, which they
claimed was being “inexplicably” kept from them. Number 1 Jesse Kozechen and Shurastey
Starting in 2017, Brazilian influencer Jesse Kozechen embarked on a dream trip in his 1978
Volkswagen Beetle, accompanied by his Golden Retriever Shurastey. Kozechen’s goal had been
to drive from Brazil through the Americas and ultimately reach Alaska. He documented the
expedition on his social media through pictures of the destinations they visited. Many of the
images also showed the Beetle with its “Shurastey or Shuraigow” logo, a word play inspired by the
name of his canine companion and The Clash’s hit song “Should I Stay or Should I Go”. The
pair had travelled 52,000 miles through over a dozen countries before their trip was cut short
by the COVID-19 pandemic, when the US closed its southern border, and they were forced to return to
Brazil. They resumed travelling at the beginning of 2022. After crossing into the US, in February,
Kozechen posted a photo to his Instagram, where he had close to 360,000 followers. In it,
he and Shurastey were watching a sunset and in the caption Kozechen wrote “as far as it depends on me
we will always be together until the sun sets one last time”. After travelling through California
and across Florida, the pair drove up the East Coast. In April, Kozechen posted a photo with him
and Shurastey sitting atop the Beetle as it was parked in New York City’s Times Square. On May the
23rd, they were outside Salem, Oregon, only a few days from completing the dream trip. As reported
by Oregon State Police, Kozechen then tried to pass a line of vehicles that had slowed down for
another that was turning. In doing so he swerved into oncoming traffic and collided head-on with a
Ford Escape driven by 62-year-old Eileen Huss. She was taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries
but Kozechen and Shurastey died at the scene as the Beetle had taken the brunt of the impact. News
of the tragedy began to circulate and numerous Instagram users expressed their condolences, one
of them writing “you lived life beautifully!” in the memory of Kozechen and his beloved companion.
Thanks for watching! Would you rather spend a week in a 5 star resort in Mexico
or with an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon jungle? Let us know in the comments section below!