Hamptons police arrived to find a woman dead under suspicious circumstances in a guest room Monday at the Shou Sugi Ban House, a Japan-inspired wellness retreat in Water Mill.
A staff member first made the discovery in one of the 13 villas spread across its secluded property, about 95 miles from New York City.
Police identified the victim as 33-year-old Sabina Rosas, of Brooklyn. Her cause of death was not immediately available, pending results from an autopsy.
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Southampton town police were the first to respond about 12:30 p.m., according to authorities.
When they suspected foul play, they called in the county for assistance.
A Suffolk County police mobile crime lab could be seen outside the main building on the 3-acre property for hours Monday, near a landmark Buddha statue by the front entrance.
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In a statement, Suffolk police said the victim met a violent end. Few other details were available Tuesday morning.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to call the Suffolk County Homicide Squad at 631-852-6392.
The spa did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rooms at the Shou Sugi Ban House cost upwards of $1,000 a night.
It was founded in 2019 by Amy Cherry-Abitbol as the Hamptons’ first high-end wellness retreat, according to Condé Nast Traveler, whose readers have given the destination a top rating in each of the last four years.
She was inspired by the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which the country defines as the embrace of nature and finding beauty in imperfection.
Cherry-Abitbol partnered with Noma co-founder and Michelin-starred chef Mads Refslund for the food, according to the spa’s website, which concludes with a quote about keeping your head up after enduring a tragedy by the Japanese samurai poet Mizuta Masahide.
“Barn’s burnt down – now I can see the moon.”
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