Costa Rica’s top health official is determined to learn more about the tragic death of former New York Yankees player Brett Gardner's 14-year-old son Miller, who passed away on March 21 during a family vacation.
On Wednesday, April 2, authorities in Costa Rica officially announced that the teenager’s death was caused by exposure to carbon monoxide. Miller tested positive for carboxyhemoglobin which, according to Medscape, is “a stable complex of carbon monoxide that forms in red blood cells when carbon monoxide is inhaled.”
Related: Brett Gardner Releases Touching Obituary to Late Son Miller
On Friday, Mary Munive Angermuller, Costa Rica’s Health Minister, announced that they will be investigating exactly what happened at the luxurious Arenas Del Mar Beachfront & Rainforest Resort, where the family was staying, that led to lethal levels of carbon monoxide in the air.
“The Ministry of Health is… investigating what happened at a hotel in Manuel Antonio following a report by the Judicial Investigation Agency which indicates the unfortunate death of a person due to carbon monoxide inhalation,” Angermuller said in a statement, as reported by the New York Post. “In response to inquiries regarding this case, the Ministry of Health is gathering information and conducting the necessary investigations.”
Initially, it was believed that Miller may have suffered from asphyxiation after possibly getting food poisoning from something he ate. That theory was quickly ruled out when “No macro-level abnormalities were observed in the respiratory tract upon inspection of the body.”
It was later discovered that the entire Gardner family—including Brett, his wife Jessica, and sons Miller and Hunter—became ill the night before Miller’s death. Each member of the family had suffered “severe stomach cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea” after eating at a restaurant near their hotel. The resort dispatched a doctor who treated the entire family with medication the night before Miller was found unresponsive.
The resort initially denied reports of carbon monoxide, saying that levels in the room “were nonexistent.” The New York Post reached out to the hotel’s representative again following the official cause of death announcement, but did not hear back.
On March 23, the New York Yankees shared a heartbreaking statement from Brett and Jessica Gardner, who wrote that “Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile. He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.”
Statement from Brett and Jessica Gardner:
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 23, 2025
With heavy hearts we are saddened to announce the passing of our youngest son, Miller. He was 14 years old and has left us far too soon after falling ill along with several other family members while on vacation. We have so many… pic.twitter.com/lBCBVmKGUe
They also, understandably, requested privacy “as we mourn and search for healing.”
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