First Victim to Report Symptoms of Mystery Illness Dies

The Daily BeastThe Daily Beast

First Victim to Report Symptoms of Mystery Illness Dies

The Daily Beast

Fri, January 30, 2026 at 1:12 PM UTC

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

A former counterintelligence officer who was the first person to report symptoms linked to “Havana Syndrome” has died at age 65. Michael Beck, a retired National Security Agency staffer who blamed his early-onset Parkinson’s diagnosis at age 45 on the still-unexplained medical condition, died while shopping on Saturday in Columbia, Maryland. His daughter, Regan, told The New York Times that Beck’s cause of death has not yet been determined.

Source