A State Department official confirms the death of another American tourist in the Dominican Republic last week, the eighth to die while on vacation in that country since last year.

Joseph Allen, 55, of Avenel, New Jersey, was found dead in his hotel room at Terra Linda in Sosua on the morning of June 13, his sister confirmed to ABC.

In a phone interview, Jamie Reed told ABC her brother was vacationing with friends to celebrate a friend’s birthday.

Friends told Reed that Allen “complained about being hot at the pool. He said he was going to his room to take a shower. When his friends came back, he said he wasn’t feeling 100% again, and said he was going to lie down for the night. The next morning his friend said he hadn’t heard from Joe before breakfast, so he knocked on his door and there was no response.”

That’s when the friend said he called down to the hotel front desk for a wellness check.