Originally appeared on E! Online
Some details have come to light about the tragic death of Miller Gardner.
Former MLB player Brett Gardner and his wife Jessica Gardner announced their 14-year-old son died on March 21, with the U.S. Embassy of Costa Rica sharing that the family was vacationing in the country at the time.
Now, just days later, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency has shared information about Miller’s health in the hours leading up to his passing—including how all four Gardner family members may have gotten sick.
On March 20, Brett, Jessica and kids Miller and Hunter, 16, went to a restaurant outside of their hotel and felt ill when they returned, agency spokesperson Juan Pablo Alvarado Garcia told NBC News March 25. A medical team at their hotel treated all four family members with medicine.
It was the next morning that Miller’s body was found in his hotel room in Manuel Antonio, according to the agency.
Officials saw that the teen had vomit in his mouth and nose, so they initially believed that he had suffocated on his own throw-up. However, a forensic pathologist subsequently analyzed Miller’s body and did not find any obstruction in the airways, so they ruled out asphyxiation as his cause of death, according to Alvarado Garcia.
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“It was preliminarily ruled out that the cause of death was due to asphyxia,” the spokesperson told NBC News in a March 25 statement, “due to the fact that at the time of the inspection of the body, no anomaly was observed at macro level in the respiratory tract.”
Now they believe Miller could have died due to the food, the medicine or an underlying cause, but his official cause of death is still under investigation as authorities await the toxicology and neuropathology test results, according to Alvarado Garcia.
“Was it a medicine they gave him that triggered something? Or was it an underlying condition he had that was triggered by what he ate or the medicine they gave him?” he told NBC News. “We won’t know until we know all of the results from the tests.”
Brett—who played baseball for the New York Yankees from 2008 to 2021—announced his son’s passing with a touching message on March 23.
“With heavy hearts we are saddened to announce the passing of our youngest son, Miller,” he and wife Jessica wrote in a statement shared by his former team. “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 questions and so few answers at this point, but we do know that he passed away peacefully in his sleep.”
The couple—who have been married for 17 years—went on to share some of their fondest memories with their son.
“Miller was a beloved son and brother and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile,” they continued. “He loved football, baseball, golf, hunting, fishing, his family and his friends. He lived life to the fullest every single day.”
The Gardners added, “We are so thankful to all who have reached out to offer support and encouragement during this difficult time and we are confident our faith, family, and friends will help us navigate this unimaginable loss.”
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Read on for more details about the case.
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Miller and his brother Hunter were raised in South Carolina.
Despite Brett Gardner spending his entire MLB career as a member of the New York Yankees, the outfielder and his wife Jessica Clendenin Gardner—who tied the knot in 2007—kept their sons Hunter and Miller largely out of the public eye in South Carolina.
Still, they occasionally stepped out in support of their dad’s career, attending the CCandy Children’s Clothing Line Launch at MLB Fan Cave in New York in 2013.
Miller was known to live “life to the fullest every single day.”
In a statement announcing his tragic death, Miller’s family described the 14-year-old as having an “infectious smile” and someone who “lived life to the fullest every single day.”
He was similarly remembered by the New York Yankees in a March 2025 statement, who emphasized Miller’s “outgoing and feisty personality.”
Miller was following his father Brett’s footsteps.
Like his dad, Miller was athletic, though in addition to baseball, he also took up football, golf, fishing and hunting. In a TikTok post he shared earlier this year, he emphasized his love for football by sharing photos of himself on the field, adding, “Miss it.”
Miller made an impact on the New York Yankees.
In a March 2025 statement by the team confirming Miller’s death, the organization—for whom Brett played from 2008 to 2021—remembered the teen for the “spark in his eyes” as well as a “warm and loving nature.”
The team continued in their statement, “It wasn’t just Brett who literally grew up in this organization for more than 17 years—so did his wife, Jessica, and their two boys.”
The Gardner family is still looking for answers after Miller’s sudden death.
In a statement shared by Brett’s former team, the outfielder and his family shared that after Miller and others had fallen ill while on vacation, the 14-year-old passed “peacefully in his sleep the morning of Friday, March 21.”
“Miller was a beloved son and brother,” they wrote, “and we cannot yet comprehend our life without his infectious smile.”
And amid their grief, the Gardner family expressed how they are still trying to determine what happened. As they added in their statement, “We have so many questions and so few answers at this point.”
U.S. Embassy in Costa Rica confirms why the Gardner family was in the country.
The day after Brett and Jessica revealed that Miller had died, the U.S. Embassy of Costa Rica told Inside Edition that the family was vacationing in the Central American country for spring break at the time of his death.
The Embassy also confirmed that it was in discussions with the Gardner family about transporting Miller’s body back to the U.S.
Costa Rican officials release Miller’s preliminary cause of death.
One day after Brett and Jessica announced the sudden passing of Miller, Costa Rican officials said the teenager likely died from suffocation after possibly ingesting a toxic substance.
“Preliminarily, apparently the manner of death would be by asphyxia after a possible intoxication after apparently ingesting some food,” an Organismo de Investigación Judicial spokesperson told NBC News in a statement translated from Spanish. “At the moment it is a death under investigation and is awaiting the results of the autopsy, as well as the analysis of the Toxicology Section, to determine the exact cause of death.”
Miller’s cause of death as suffocation is ruled out
However, authorities soon ruled out suffocation as his cause of death, because they did not find any obstruction in his airways.
They shared instead that Miller—as well as his parents and sibling—had fallen ill on March 20 after returning to their hotel from a restaurant, agency spokesperson Juan Pablo Alvarado Garcia told NBC News March 25. Hotel medical staffers treated all four family members before Miller’s body was found in his room the next morning.
The investigation is ongoing and pending medical test results.
