Eric Salata: Florida doctor charged with raping women after giving them laughing gas found dead

According to reports, the doctor who was accused last week of raping unconscious patients in his office at a medical spa has been discovered dead in a ditch. At 6:17 p.m. on November 28th, a Collier County Sheriff's officer was sent to Gail Boulevard in Naples to check on the welfare of 54-year-old Eric Andrew Salata. Following allegations that he gave his patients tequila and laughing gas before raping them, Salata made headlines last week. In his report, the responding deputy noted that he spoke with an unnamed person who informed him that Salata left behind two notes, his wedding ring, and his credit cards at his home. However, the report was edited to remove the notes' content. According to Law&Crime, Salata's ankle monitor business got in touch with the Collier County Sheriff's Office and reported the device showed Salata leaving his house at 10 am, parking, and heading toward Gail Boulevard. After that, according to the incident report, the monitor did not record any movement. The responding deputy said that while looking for the doctor's last known location, he came across a boot protruding from a nearby patch of forest. He then discovered Salata's dead body in a ditch with a head wound from a bullet. “I conducted a search of the area and observed a bottom of a boot sticking up out of a wooded area near the location above,” the report stated. “I continued to investigate and observed Eric laying in a ditch with a gunshot wound to the right side of his head and an exit wound on the left side of his head.” The investigator noted that a pistol was lying next to Salata's right leg. While his wrist was cold to the touch, the disgraced doctor appeared to be “freshly deceased with no signs of decay.” According to a representative for the Collier County Sheriff, Salata's death did not seem odd. However, a medical examiner will identify the precise cause and manner of death. On November 21, 54-year-old Salata was taken into custody on suspicion of two counts of sexual battery on a defenseless victim. The following day, though, he was freed after posting a $100,000 bail. Salata is accused of sexually assaulting two ladies, age 51 and 72, after giving them tequila and laughing gas during a procedure at Pure Vida Medical Spa, which he and his wife also co-own. Following Salata's death, Adam Horowitz, an attorney for one of the doctor’s victims, told The Daily Beast that the perp had "escaped justice." The statement read, “It is disappointing and frustrating that Dr Salata has escaped justice. It took tremendous courage for my client to tell her truth. She was ready to hold him accountable in court.”