Mystery continues to surround the death of 33-year-old swimwear entrepreneur Martha Nolan-O’Slattara, whose body was found on a docked yacht at an exclusive Montauk, New York, yacht club last week.
Suffolk County detectives have remained tight-lipped after launching an investigation soon after the woman was found unresponsive on the yacht just after midnight last Tuesday.
News of the death quickly went viral, partly because one witness reportedly said a man ran naked along the dock shouting, “Do something, do something” just before good Samaritans boarded the yacht and unsuccessfully tried CPR on the attractive designer.
As part of her marketing efforts, Nolan-O’Slattara posted a profile of her lifestyle on social media.
Police said there was no evidence of violence. Authorities are waiting on results of a toxicology report that could determine if drugs were involved in the death.
The identity of the naked man who apparently may have been with Nolan-O’Slatarra on the yacht has not been made public. Nor have police revealed if he has been questioned or is under investigation.
However, an on-the-scene YouTube video by a New York Post reporter last week poses a number of questions about the location of the woman’s demise, and remnants of an unidentified white powder on the boat.
Montauk is located on the northeastern tip of Long Island.
As Fox News Digital reported:
Authorities have not yet confirmed whether drugs were involved. Still, the case is stirring anxiety among locals about what some describe as an ever-growing party culture fueled by visiting social media influencers and young professionals escaping the city grind for a glamorous weekend or summer vacation.
“It’s absolutely changed,” Tommy Rando, a marina operator born and raised in town, told Fox. “Social media put Montauk on the map. It used to be a fishing village… now it’s a very happening place.”
Nolan-O’Slattara, an Irish national, received her bachelor’s degree in commerce and master’s degree in digital marketing from the University College Dublin before moving to New York City at age 26.
Since 2023, she ran a summer beachfront pop-up boutique featuring her East-by-East swimwear line near the Gurney’s Resort and Seawater Spa. The resort has an indoor saltwater pool for guests of its 158 rooms, which go for around $1,200 nightly in high season.
Her work was located about five miles from the club and the vessel, named Ripple, on which she died.
While some news outlets have sensationally described the boat as a “luxury yacht,” photos of the boat fall far short of that description. The Ripple appears no longer than fifty feet. It has no flying bridge and seems outfitted more for fishing or swimming than luxury cruising.
Though toxicology reports remain pending, Michael Brown, a former senior Drug Enforcement Administration agent, told Fox News Digital upscale summer party cultures like those on Montauk are “fertile ground” for drug dealers.
Some lace their goods with fentanyl, causing the explosion in accidental overdose deaths.
“Young adults are going to do drugs,” Brown said. “That’s just a given… But you don’t know what’s in what you’re taking. And if I’m wrong, I’m gonna die in 30 seconds.”
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
