San Francisco's Marriott Marquis hotel is under scrutiny this week, after a man jumped to his death from its roof a few hours before a housekeeper was discovered sexually assaulted and nearly dead in its penthouse.
26-year-old Alexander Damhuis of Brooklyn was attending TCT 2015, "the world’s largest and most important educational meeting specializing in interventional cardiovascular medicine," according to their website. It reportedly attracts over 10,000 attendees.
Damhuis, who MedPage Today reports was an employee of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), jumped from the roof of Fourth and Mission's Marriott Marquis Sunday, KTVU reports. He landed on a fifth floor deck, and died at the scene.
A few hours later, KQED reports, a housekeeper at the same hotel was found in a penthouse guest room "unable to move or call for help" after failing to check in at the end of her shift.
According to KTVU, "she had been choked and sexually assaulted...the room was one Damhuis is known to have been in."
KQED reports that the woman is currently in San Francisco General Hospital's intensive care unit in critical condition.
"Certainly there's the proximity and both of those events happening at the same time," Anand Singh, President of Unite Here! Local 2, the hotel worker's union that represents the victim, told KTVU.
"We've spoken with the family and they've put a very strong face on this. We hope she will make a full recovery...And the union is going to conduct our own investigation to find out what steps need to be taken, if any, to make sure all of our members are safe and secure in this job."
As was the case for KQED and KTVU, the San Francisco Police Department has not responded to a call from SFist asking for more details in the incidents, including if the two are related.
If someone you know exhibits warning signs of suicide: do not leave the person alone; remove any firearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt; and call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.