Two Guests Found Dead at Iowa’s Wild Rose Casino & Resort, Suspect Arrested for Casino Chip Robbery
Last week, two guests at Iowa’s Wild Rose Casino & Resort were discovered dead in a hotel room. Authorities have not yet revealed the cause of their deaths.
Resort staff became concerned about the two visitors, prompting a call to Clinton, Iowa police officers and fire department EMTs. The pair was found unresponsive in the room, and it was determined that they had passed away before emergency workers arrived. The autopsies will likely identify the cause and manner of their deaths.
Preliminary investigations did not suggest foul play, and there was no word on whether any weapons or lethal substances were found in the hotel room. Their identities will be released following the autopsies and notifications to their relatives.
The resort has a 60-room, six-suite hotel, and the deaths are being investigated by the Clinton Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Gaming Enforcement, and the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office. The Clinton Herald reported that there was no threat to the community following the deaths.
In a separate incident, a 23-year-old man was arrested earlier this month for allegedly robbing more than $14,000 worth of casino chips at Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, Ill. Ismail Ahmed Ateyat of Chicago Ridge, Ill. entered the gaming property on October 31, wearing a black mask and pointing a firearm at casino employees before demanding the chips. He then fled from the crime scene.
The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) launched an investigation and identified Ateyat as the suspect. He was apprehended at his residence, where a search revealed the stolen casino chips and the firearm believed to have been used in the robbery, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Ateyat was charged with three counts of armed robbery and remains in the Cook County Jail as of Monday, with bail yet to be set. He is scheduled to appear in court on November 30.
