'Absolute Best Girl Dad': Young Daughters Mourn Loss of Father Who Died Suspiciously on Cancún Vacation

Elijah and Jamie Snow and their girls.Photo: Avery Owens Photo

Texas firefighter Elijah Snow had a hard time saying no to his adorable young daughters, ages 6 and 5.

“He would let them put makeup on him,” his wife, Jamie Snow, 35, tells PEOPLE in this week’s cover story. “He would learn their gymnastics routines. He would make a fool out of himself. He would do anything just to see his family smile.”

Initially, Elijah, 35, was “terrified to become a girl dad,” Jamie recalls. “And then he embraced every second of it and was the absolute best girl dad.”

Being a father “was a big, huge part of his life and something he was really proud of and really good at,” she says. “He always worked two jobs to make sure that we had everything that we needed.”

Now all Jamie and her girls have left are memories of the man who always let them know he loved them.

In July, Elijah died under suspicious circumstances during a 10th wedding anniversary trip to Cancún, Mexico, with Jamie.

Elijah and Jamie Snow.

The next morning, his lifeless body was found stuffed into a small window in a secluded section of the Sunset Royal Beach, next to the Royalton Chic.

His torso was hanging out of the small opening and his feet were dangling inside a bathroom.

His death stunned Jamie. “I was shaking,” she tells PEOPLE. “I crumpled to the ground, just crying. I was screaming. I was terrified. I didn’t know what to do. I had family calling me, people trying to figure what’s happening. I didn’t know, so I couldn’t answer any questions.”

Mexican officials quickly labeled Elijah’s death an accident.

“That afternoon, police told me there was no foul play; he was trying to climb out of a restroom window, got stuck and suffocated there,” Jamie says.

Elijah had his wallet with him, with his driver’s license and other IDs still there, but the money inside was gone. “I think he had about $100 on him,” says Jamie.

The detective then said Elijah’s death would be labeled as a “murder without suspect” on his death certificate, she says.

For more on Jamie’s quest to find out what happened to her husband,subscribe now to PEOPLE,or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.

“I was already confused because they were saying there’s no foul play, but then it’s ‘murder without suspect’ and he’s in a window,” she says.

“None of it made any sense,” she says.

A Hands-On Dad

One of the reasons Elijah was able to spend so much time with the girls, a kindergartener and a first grader, is because of his schedule as a firefighter in Arlington, Texas, where he worked for 24 hours straight with the next 48 hours off.

This helped Jamie with her mom duties when she was at her full-time job as a special education director.

“He did everything,” Jamie recalls. “There was nothing he wouldn’t do. He practiced gymnastics with our oldest daughter. He played soccer with our youngest daughter. He went to every meet they had, every game they had. He was the best dad ever. Better than I could ever, ever even imagine.”

“I’ve had to go from being what I would have said was a picture-perfect representation of a family to trying to navigate this life as a single working mom now without my best friend,” she says.

The couple didn’t have much in the way of life insurance, she says, so in addition to raising her two girls alone, she is trying to keep them afloat financially with one salary.

“It’s been a very overwhelming and emotional rollercoaster,” she says.

Elijah and Jamie Snow.Courtesy Jamie Snow

“He always knew that he wanted to be a firefighter,” she says. “His dream was to be a firefighter and follow in the footsteps of his dad.”

His father, Ronnie Snow, died in 1985 in a training accident while Elijah’s mother was pregnant with him, Jamie says.

Elijah, Jamie tells PEOPLE, wasn’t just one of the good guys. “He was without a doubt, the best guy.”

Ongoing Nightmare

Despite everything on her plate, Jamie has spent the last few months appealing to Mexican authorities, asking them to release video footage of the resort area that could shed light on Elijah’s final moments.

Both resorts have given Jamie a hard time about handing over the surveillance footage.

A hotel staffer at the Royalton Chic said she couldn’t give Jamie and her father-in-law, David Oujesky, who flew to Mexico to help her, any footage.

Later, Oujesky says, the family was told that the cameras at the Sunset Royal weren’t working.

“We knew right there we were up against a wall,” Oujesky says.

Jamie has asked the U.S. Consulate in Mexico for help from the FBI.

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The Consulate “responded to that request and said that [Mexican authorities] were doing a sufficient investigation and that the FBI wasn’t needed.”

The FBI declined to comment to PEOPLE.

Jamie is even beggingPresident Joe Bidento involve the FBI — amassing signatures on an online petition. “I’m in a fight every day,” says Jamie, “trying to get information about my husband.”

Jamie’s father, Randy Elledge, tells PEOPLE, “If you go (to Mexico), don’t expect any help if something happens. You’re totally on your own.

“People need to be warned.”

The Royalton Chic, the Sunset Royal, the hotel staffer and the local police did not respond to multiple calls or emails from PEOPLE requesting comment about Elijah’s death.

“We humbly ask that you help in any way you can. Any help you can give is appreciated, whether it’s financial or just sharing the story in an effort to bring Justice for Elijah and his family.”

source: people.com