‘Pimp My Ride,’ ex-’Survivor’ producer’s wife dead in Cancun; husband detained as suspect

Producer detained after death of wife in Mexico

MEXICO CITY — “Pimp My Ride” and former “Survivor” producer Bruce Beresford-Redman was detained Thursday as a suspect in his wife’s death days after reporting her missing in the resort city of Cancun, a Mexican official said.

The body of Monica Beresford-Redman was found Thursday in a sewer at the swanky Moon Palace resort where the family was on vacation, according to Bello Rodriguez, the outgoing attorney general for Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located.

Rodriguez said a security guard at the hotel saw the couple arguing Monday night and said Beresford-Redman tried to hit her.

The 38-year-old producer told police Tuesday that his wife left the hotel to go shopping the previous day and never returned, said an official from the attorney general’s office who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media about the case. A lawyer for Beresford-Redman could not be located.

Rodriguez left office later Thursday and his successor as state attorney general, Francisco Alor, said he would describe Beresford-Redman as a person of interest rather than a suspect, adding that several people in the hotel heard an argument in the couple’s room Monday night.

“He’s the initial focus of the investigation based on their alleged turbulent relationship,” Alor said by phone from the state capital of Chetumal.

Alor said late Thursday night that doctors determined that Monica Beresford-Redman died of asphyxiation and a blow to the head. He said she was hit hard on her right temple and had scratches on her neck.

“What we need to determine is whether that blow was from falling into the sewer,” Alor said, adding that she died Monday night.

Her husband had scratches on his face and arms, he said.

Alor said that Beresford-Redman told a hotel employee sent to their room to check on a noise complaint that he and his wife were fighting over their two children.

In West Los Angeles, friends gathered at the Zabumba bikini bar and restaurant that Monica owned and managed. They said they hoped her death was an accident and not murder.

“She’s going to be very missed,” said friend Mariza Alyrio. “I can’t believe it’s her. I hope he didn’t do that. I don’t want to believe it. He doesn’t seem like that kind of guy.”

Monica Beresford-Redman would have turned 42 on Thursday. Brazilian media reported that she was born in Rio de Janeiro.

“They weren’t lovey-dovey, at least when I saw them, and they didn’t smile a lot,” said Ratana Necth, 36, a nanny for a family in the Palos Verdes, California neighborhood where the Beresford-Redmans and their two children resided. Necth described the couple as nice and said they always seemed “on the go.”

Bruce Beresford-Redman was a producer for several episodes of the Emmy-nominated CBS reality show “Survivor,” including “The Amazon” and “Marquesas” seasons, but was not currently working with the program, according to his profile on IMDb.com.

The Internet Movie Database also names him as the co-creator of “Pimp My Ride,” a popular MTV car makeover show, and as an executive producer for “Crash Course,” a driving game show produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions that aired on ABC last summer.

Beresford-Redman was nominated for three Emmys for his work on “Survivor,” the long-running reality TV competition that strands tribes of strangers in remote locales to outwit, outplay and outlast each other for a $1 million prize.

Bruce Beresford-Redman worked for reality TV giant Mark Burnett, who produces “Survivor” and is currently producing Sarah Palin’s eight-part series about her home state of Alaska.

Associated Press video journalist John Mone contributed to this report.