Nedenia Dye, a multimillionaire relative of actress Dina Merrill and a descendant of Marjorie Merriweather Post, was stabbed to death in the Caribbean by her drug-addicted musician partner, according to police.
Officers on the Honduran island of Roatan say Dye, 46, was found dead Sunday in the bathroom of her home with “several stab wounds.” They arrested Honduran Lenin Arana Carlos, 25, whom they at first described as her husband.
Sources close to Dye’s devastated relatives, who include Merrill’s son Stan Rumbough and 22-year-old jazz singer Cole Rumbough, tell us, “The family is grief-stricken,” but want to set the record straight, as “Nedenia was not married and was murdered by a musician whose career she was helping to promote.”
The family insists Nedenia, said to be worth $35 million, was murdered by a drug-addicted bongo player. One family member added, “She was a generous person, always the life and soul. Nedenia went to Roatan about 15 years ago on the [ship] Sea Cloud and never left, founding an upscale spa. She wanted to help this musician.”
Police Comandante Alex Madrid told Page Six last night from Roatan: “Señora Dye was murdered by Lenin Roberto Arana Carlos, also known as the musician Canario, with whom she was in a romantic relationship. We believe she was a victim of domestic violence. He allegedly killed her because he wanted to get crack. It was apparent he was under the influence of drugs. He has been charged with her murder. Her body has been transferred to the mainland for an autopsy.”
Her family hasn’t yet told Merrill, who’s the ex-wife of actor Cliff Robertson and starred in “Butterfield 8” with Liz Taylor and TV’s “The Love Boat,” about Nedenia’s death as “Dina is nearly 90 and would be totally devastated. Nedenia was like a daughter to her. Dina has already lost two children and adored Nedenia.”
Dye was a great-granddaughter of General Foods founder Post, the wife of E.F. Hutton who built Palm Beach’s Mar-a-Lago, now owned by Donald Trump.