The preliminary forensic findings in the death of Adrianna Younge, whose body was discovered April 24, 2025, under suspicious circumstances in the pool of the Double Day Hotel, are now under intense scrutiny. A respected British physician has called for a second opinion, warning that key details in the autopsy report are inconsistent, incomplete, and raise more questions than they answer.
Dr. Mark Devonish, MBBS MSc MRCP(UK) FRCP(Edin), Consultant in Acute Medicine at Nottingham University Hospital and weekly columnist with Village Voice News, has publicly criticised the initial forensic assessment. In a detailed and sharply worded commentary, he questioned both the methodology and the conclusions of the forensic team.
“The forensic report has left us with more questions than answers,” Dr. Devonish wrote, particularly highlighting the controversial claim that facial discolouration on Younge’s body was due to decomposition, not trauma. “Why is decomposition is limited to Adrianna’s face?” he asked. This syllogistic flaw in the argument cannot be ignored, Devonish contended.
The forensic team did undertake a landmark postmortem CT scan — the first of its kind in the country — to identify internal injuries and fractures. The procedure, combined with a traditional autopsy, revealed several classic signs of drowning: frothy fluid in the nose, swollen lungs, and water in the stomach. However, Dr. Devonish argues these findings alone cannot conclusively determine the manner of death.
More troubling, he noted, is the absence of an estimated time of death in the report — a critical piece of forensic evidence in any suspicious case. Without it, holding potential perpetrators accountable becomes exponentially more difficult, he warned. This is “an outcome that is in the interest of the installed government.”
Dr. Devonish, whose medical expertise is well respected and who holds fellowships from both the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, says the uncertainties surrounding the case demand independent review.
“In a case that has psychologically aroused a nation, the recommendation and argument must be for a second opinion,” he wrote.
Last week, Dr. Mark Devonish argued that Adrianna Younge did not drown in the pool, citing Archimedes’ Principle of buoyancy. In typical drowning cases, a body sinks due to increased density from inhaling and ingesting water. However, Adrianna’s body was found floating and not bloated, which contradicts the expected post-mortem signs of drowning, such as gas buildup causing temporary resurfacing.
Dr. Devonish emphasised that the absence of bloating and the body’s floating position defy the usual scientific indicators of drowning in a large body of water. Based on these anomalies, he suggests an alternative theory: Adrianna may have been sedated, drowned in a smaller volume of water, and then placed in the pool afterward.
