Minnesota sisters found dead in Seychelles villa had water in lungs

(KMSP) - Two sisters from Minnesota found dead in their luxury villa during a vacation to the Seychelles died from excess water in their lungs and brain, according to autopsy results reported by the Seychelles News Agency. Robin Marie Korkki, 42, died from “acute pulmonary edema” and Anne Marie Korkki, 37, died of “acute pulmonary and cerebral edema,” according to the autopsy results released by Seychelles police on Friday.

Annie Korkki and Robin Korkki were found unresponsive in their room at the Maia Resort at Anse Louis on Sept. 22. Police told local media that there were no signs of a physical altercation or violence. Police found an itinerary at the Maia hotel that showed the Korkki sisters were touring Africa and had already visited Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar.

“The family is in shock,” said brother Chris Korkki. “Everyone is trying to understand and come to terms with what happened.”

A fundraising site has been set up to help the family with travel expenses, as they travel to Africa to bring the sisters home. Click here to donate. 

According to local newspaper Seychelles Nation, hotel staff observed the women consuming alcohol throughout the day Wednesday and were helped to their room around 8:15 p.m.

Police say the butler returned around 8:30 a.m. Thursday to find the door to the villa was as he left it the night before. By 11 a.m., the newspaper reports, there was still no sign of them, prompting hotel staff to enter the room where they found the sisters dead in the bed.

Chris Korkki said local authorities, along with the US Embassy, were doing a great job with the investigation. Chris said his mother and brother were in Seychelles to help in the investigation however they could, and to bring his sisters home to Minnesota to be with family. Annie Korkki lived in Denver and Robin in Chicago, but both grew up in Eden Prairie, Minn. 

The Seychelles is a 115-island archipelago off the east cost of Africa, in the Indian Ocean.