HE NEEDS TO KNOW
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The bodies of Alain Noël, 56, and Christine Sauvé, 55, of Quebec, were found by their son at the couple’s vacation home in the Dominican Republic on December 26.
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Her brother tells PEOPLE that the couple had not been feeling well before their deaths and seemed “exhausted” when they last spoke the next day.
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“It’s a big loss,” he says
A married couple from Canada were found dead while on vacation in the Dominican Republic last month. As family members wait for answers about what happened, they talk about the couple’s final moments.
Christine Sauvé, 55, and Alain Noël, 56, both of Quebec, were found dead by their son in their vacation home located in the El Indio Village residential complex in Villa Riva on Friday, Dec. 26, her brother, Gilles Sauvé Jr., confirmed to PEOPLE.
Autopsies have already been performed and Gilles says the family has been told they can expect initial results later this week, but that a final report could take up to 4 months.
With no definitive answers yet, there has been much speculation in the local media, including questions about whether the couple were murdered or committed suicide. But, Gilles thinks it’s “not true”.
Christine and Alain have been married for more than 30 years and have two children – Jonathan, 30, and Sabrina, 28 – says Gilles, describing the couple as good people with many friends.
“Alain was a big man, but a very big teddy bear. And Christine was amazing,” says her brother. “He liked to do a lot of things for the family.”
Christine and Alain arrived in the Dominican Republic — where they found a home they plan to live in after they retire — with their son Jonathan on Dec. 14 for the start of a month-long vacation.
While overseas, Gilles says Christine started feeling dizzy and had a fall, prompting her to go to a hospital on December 25, where he had her blood work done. When she went home later that day, she was given no prescription for her symptoms, but was told to come back the next day for some scans.
Gilles says Alain also had a little dizziness, but was so caught up in worrying about his wife’s health that he didn’t get around to telling the doctors.
After returning from the hospital, the couple FaceTimed their family back in Canada. Gilles says they both appeared to be “a little exhausted” but did not report feeling dizzy at the time.
During the conversation, Christine mentioned that she had no idea what caused the dizziness. She wondered if it might be related to her ongoing health problems — they both had high blood pressure and diabetes — though she couldn’t say for sure.
“It wasn’t clear,” says Gilles. “There was nothing clear about it.”
Additionally, they both mentioned having a little “stomach trouble” but didn’t think they had eaten any food that upset them.
They were mostly “very tired and exhausted” but otherwise fine during the call, according to Gilles.
“Alain showed me his house outside because he did some new garden stuff and put lights on and,” he says, adding that his sister was also “looking and talking” well.
The next morning, when Jonathan woke up around 9:30 am, he noticed that his parents hadn’t woken up yet, which was strange because Alain, who worked in the family construction business, usually got up early.
Gilles says Jonathan pushed him away at that point, thinking they had slept there because they had been so tired the night before. However, when they still hadn’t woken up an hour later, he entered their room and found them unresponsive in bed.
The first thing Jonathan did, Gilles says, was call his sister Sabrina and tell her their parents weren’t breathing. Sabrina then told her brother to call the owner-manager of the resort, who contacted the local authorities.
“Everybody came and did what they were supposed to do and searched the house,” says Gilles.
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 contacted the family four days later to give them 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 could not release further information for confidentiality reasons.
Neither the Dominican National Police, the National Institute of Forensic Sciences, the Office of the Attorney General of the Dominican Republic nor 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 loved ones have been hard to process.
“It’s a big loss,” he says, noting that losing them both at the same time made everything difficult, especially for their children.
As for how she wants Alain and Christine to be remembered, her brother says it’s for their legacy of kindness.
Sharing an example, Gilles says that when his wife died of leukemia a year and a half ago, his sister stepped in to help care for his daughter, who also works in the family business. Now, in the wake of his sister’s death, he says he will do whatever he can to be there for her children.
Gilles adds: “I have two children, but now I have four children because I will take care of theirs.”
Read the original article on People