Woman’s Mysterious Death in Luxury Hotel Room Leads to Lover’s Arrest

Who is the young lady to you? Uh, she's kind of my partner. Relationship's kind of complicated. She's just been talking about like how unhappy she is with life. It's a city so bright and beautiful, its motto is unbelievably real. Hot sun, cool waters, and a miles-long stretch of four-star resorts make Orlando, Florida the perfect vacation destination, even in chilly December. Located just two miles from the happiest place on Earth, the luxurious Waldorf Astoria Hotel is one of Orlando's most highly-rated resorts. Even locals check in by the iconic lobby clock when they need a weekend getaway, a short escape from reality. Less than a month before Christmas in 2023, 26-year-old Tampa native Alana Mikolas and her on-again, off-again girlfriend, Megha Saluja, have just that idea in mind. But for one of the women, the elevator ride up to her 14th floor suite would be her last chance at any real escape. The penalty is death. Get your family out of here. Why me? I will have my attorney call you. So unbelievable. Hello, oh my God, my partner just dropped herself in the head. What's the address? I'm at the Waldorf Astoria, Orlando. Oh my God. The 911 call comes in at 1.04 p.m., and Orange County Police dispatch to the scene immediately. She's making a lot of noise right now, I don't know what to do, she's breathing really hard. She's still alive. As quick as we can. You said she's 26? Yes, she's 26. Okay, you said she's making noise right now, is she awake, is she breathing, is she moving on her own? She's going, she's not moving, she's laying there, I don't know. Officers arrive just behind a team of paramedics. Because the victim is still breathing, they're hopeful she may miraculously survive. You know, this whole son of a she is f***ed. Oh, I don't think so. I don't think so, there's a lot of detail. Oh, you're talking about who had the gun and who didn't? Mm-hmm. Sounds interesting, but we'll let Honest say what it is. Yeah. Once inside, they see her, 26-year-old Alana Mikolas. The scene tells paramedics the head wound was catastrophic. The sheets, once crisp and white, are stained red. The headboard and nightstand are both splattered with blood. Investigators place small cameras around the scene. Investigators place small yellow evidence markers on the carpet beside what looks like chunks of human flesh, just steps away from a brass bullet casing. While paramedics place Alana onto the stretcher for transport to the hospital, law enforcement split up to comb through the room and get a statement from their only witness, the 911 caller who identifies herself as Alana's on-again, off-again, but mostly on, girlfriend. and get a statement from their only witness, the 911 caller who identifies herself as Alana's on-again, off-again, but mostly on, girlfriend. Mega Saluja. Stay right here. Stay right here. This one had the firearm and had taken it from her, and she got it back. There was an exchange of the handcuffs. My understanding is she did it, and then she contemplated doing it. Yeah. She thought about it. Oh, okay. Because I was wondering who held it to the head. Okay. Okay. And then, in an instant, picking it up, she held it to herself. And then she put it down. Okay. When they pull her aside, Saluja tells officers a version of the same story she told the dispatcher, that she walked out of the bathroom to see Alana shoot herself in the head with a handgun, a handgun Saluja had packed. The gun that was used, it belongs to you? Where do you keep that at? At my—anytime I bring it anywhere, I have a safe. So it goes in the safe, locked with the keys on my keys. Like this. She knows all that. Oh, so you have a safe, like, with you? Yeah, like this. Yeah. You keep it, like, in your bag? Yeah, 'cause I don't have, like, a concealed carry, so I keep it, like, locked in the safe. And when I go to hotels, I bring it, and I leave it, like, just in my bag. Okay. And you said it takes a key to get into the safe? Mm-hmm. When officers begin sorting through the evidence—the towel the gun was apparently wrapped in, Saluja's car keys with the keys to the safe, and the bag where the gun was found— they're not so sure they're looking at a suicide after all. Saluja's overnight bag with the gun safe inside might be the biggest indicator that something about the scene isn't quite right. Investigators find the safe near the bottom of the bag, with clothing thrown over the top, as if someone may have been trying to hide it. By the time Saluja arrives at the hospital where Alana is transported, Orange County investigators are already there, waiting for her. And who is the—who is the young lady to you? Okay. Like, not—we're, like, not fully relationships, kind of complicated. All right, gotcha. Kind of, like, on and off type of thing? I guess. Not too many offs, but we were basically, like, preparing to, like, become friends. All right. So, tell me a little bit about what happened. Uh. If you can. Take your time. Take your time. I understand it's—it's an emotional thing. Well, I just still feel like I'm, like—I haven't, like, cried since it happened. I just still feel, like, shocked. Oh, no, it's a—it's a traum—yeah, it's traumatic. Yeah, I understand. It, like, is a little bit of a blur, but I just remember, like, I was in the bathroom. I came out. She was, like, holding, like, a towel or something. And I just remember, like, running over. There was a bang. And then, like, I saw her, like, fall. Blood. I, like, grabbed the towel. I, like, unwrapped it or whatever. I don't know. I just, like, grabbed it. There was a gun. There was, like, some—some thing, like, fell on the floor that looked, like, brown or, like, orange. And then there was, like—I saw, like, something, like, like, on the pillow that was, like, like, silver. Like, the hair on it. Okay. Was there any arguments or disagreements before that? No. We were, like, not even—there was no disagreement at all. We were, like, just, like, talking. We were a little bit emotional. Like, we were, like—this was supposed to be, like, our last trip before, like, we, like, I guess, like, break up and, like, try to be friends and stuff like that. We were talking about, like, couples counseling. And, like, I had, like, some people pull up on my phone. Like, we were looking to call. Like, I don't— I gotcha. I understand. When were you all supposed to check out? Today. Clothes folded. Phones charged. Bed made. Then, one hour before checkout and before the couple's relationship was apparently coming to an end, the gun went off. Saluja tells officers she was so distraught by what happened that she contemplated taking her own life, too, something she had apparently considered many times before. I was just, like, am I, like, should I go next? Like, I don't know. And so, when I was in college, um, I struggled with, like, suicidal ideation in college. And so, like, that's something I would do in college just to, like, feel better. Like, it just—I was, like, like, you know. It was during those turbulent college years at the University of Central Florida that Megas Saluja and Alana Mikolas began their romantic relationship. Alana, a lover of life on land and under the sea, was majoring in biology with a minor in environmental studies. The ocean was her classroom. And soon, it would be her career. Alana dreamt of saving the rapidly deteriorating coral reefs. She believed there was hope to restore them. And she dedicated her life to the research and work to make it possible. Megas Saluja was attending school at the same time. She was studying public health. The two had different career goals, but one common interest: each other. At least for a while. Their relationship was always complicated, to say the least. Like, we've been kind of together loosely for, like, five and a half years. She has been, like, unhappy more of the time than not. I have, like, wanted to keep it going more. She's wanted to end it more. I'm, like, the biggest part of her life. We see each other, like, five or six days a week. And I was, like, we have a lot of fun together, like, 90% of the time. Okay. And so I was just, like, expressing that I'm worried about her. I was, like, you talk to me about all of her problems, like, who are you going to talk to? The women argued, broke up, got back together, and so went the cycle for years. Alana was ready to shed the relationship she described as fake and unfair. That autumn, she called it off with Saluja for good this time. But Saluja appeared desperate to keep Alana in her grasp, especially when she learned Alana was pursuing other relationships. Like, I think, like, a lot of it was, like, how I behaved, like, when we were younger. So I, like, the last, like, two, three years, like, I've just been, like, constantly putting in effort to, like, be better. To convince Alana to stick around, Saluja said she would make a contract that bound Alana to her for the next several weeks but would also include a date to end the relationship. romantic aspect of their relationship. Alana was hesitant. Seluja's messages from the month before the shooting read as intense, even bordering on obsessive. She sent Alana text after text, begging her not to go on any dates with anyone else. Over days and weeks, Seluja vacillated between desperation and negotiation. She told Alana she would do anything to maintain a relationship with her, like buying extravagant gifts and starting couples counseling. In one message, Seluja even offered to pay Alana $10,000, all for Alana to stay committed to her. Did you know that your personal data is being harvested and sold online by data? Anyone can buy your personal details. 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That's joindelete.me.com slash investigates, promo code investigates. When we started, like, I was, like, kind of, eh, like, not a great partner. I got, like, counseling in college. She was, like, insistent that I start counseling. So she was, like, you go to counseling. You need to talk to them. You need to, like, get your shit right to do this. And I was, like, got it. Their messages revealed that Alana wanted Seluja to get help. But Seluja was the one who insisted on going to counseling. Alana suspected that the counseling wasn't for healing, but was yet another ploy. to get her to stick around. Eventually, Alana agreed to at least one of Seluja's requests. One final trip together, just a couple of weeks before Alana's 27th birthday. Alana told her dad, Charles, that she would be spending a few days in Orlando, and he could expect to see her back home on Friday, December 8th. So that was basically, like, the gist of, like, why we're here. Like, this was supposed to be, like, our last, like, big celebration together. in, like, a romantic relationship. And so I was, like, okay, like, cool. We can, like, make our way into being friends. It started with maybe we should go no contact after that point. That was, like, her idea. I was, like, okay. And then the next week, you know, I was, like, I don't want to lose you. And she was, like, yeah, like, I don't want to lose you either. She's, like, that's not ideal for me either. They decided on the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Orlando, the city where Seluja had promised to move after their official breakup. She poured her heart out to Alana. She said, in a long letter scrawled on notebook paper, was it a love letter or a final farewell? It's hard to tell. Investigators would later end up photographing the letter as evidence. On the final day of their trip together, December 8th, 2023, Alana sends another message to her father. She tells him she'll be home from Orlando earlier than expected. What time was checkout today? I don't know what this hotel's checkout is. Usually hotels are 11, right? Yeah, we got it. At 1 p.m., we were literally late. So you extended it. Yeah. Okay. I think she had gotten, like, all of her stuff together. I had, like, a few things to get together left. And, like, my bag, like, was disheveled. And I just, like, should have, like, packed and zipped it and been done. I know she could have, like, unzipped it, but whatever. And then after that, we just, like, got, like, really emotional. And we were, like, look, like, I love you so much. Like, I'm so sorry that, like, all of this has happened. Like, we just, like, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. We're saying, like, I love you. I love you. I love you. And then, like, crying. And that was supposed to be it. Seluja got the closure she wanted, and Alana held firm. The couple would not be staying together. On December 8, 2023, their romantic relationship would finally be over. With this chapter finally closed, the world is as close to Alana's fingertips as she keeps her toes to the tide until the gun goes off. With so much to look forward to, and her dad patiently waiting for her to arrive home that afternoon, taking her own life just didn't seem like something Alana would try to do. Not to her family, and not to investigators. Um, now, what kind of history does, did your partner have? Was she depressed? So, like. What would make her do this, is what I'm asking. Uh, like, okay. I don't know if this is, like, a red flag or not, but, like, she, like, I struggled with, like, suicidal ideation in college. Like, she always talked about it in a way that was, like, oh, like, who would ever do that? And stuff like that. Which I look back at now, I'm like, what, was that a red flag? Have you heard her talking about suicide or death or anything like that? Um. One thing that happened, like, in college, she was, like, really, like, afraid of death. Like, the idea of death, like, freaked her out, like, stressed her out, like, whatever. I feel like when it comes up, she, like, shuts down a little bit. Like, I don't know, like, that she just gets, like, like, she just kind of, like, looks tense and, like, looks overwhelmed and is, like, I don't know anybody would do that. Like, that's pathetic. And just, like, similar things to that. So she talked against doing it. Yeah. Seluja has admittedly struggled with suicidal ideation for years. But for Alana? Taking her own life has never been an option. Not even in her darkest time. That was really hard. Alana's tight-knit family suffered a devastating loss in 2021 when her mom died of cancer. But neither her mom's illness nor her death pulled Alana away from her loved ones. If anything, their shared heartache brought them closer. Following her mom's passing, Alana lived at home with her dad. She cooked meals, played with the dog, and enjoyed spending time with him. Her older sister, who she called Carly or Sissy, shared photos and videos of the two of them singing cover songs and laughing to TikTok trends. Alana also leaned on her long-time on-and-off-again girlfriend, as one so often does after immense loss. She had to, like, drop everything to go take care of her. She told me today, she was like, "I don't think I could have done, like, any of that without you." That's how we feel about each other. But then the fact that she was going to go on a date with someone else, I was, like, I realized, like, in the past, I was, like, trying to change my behavior. I was trying to change all sorts of other things because I was, like, maybe this will make you happy. But investigators are less concerned with Saluja's apparent fanatical fixation on her relationship with Alana and more on what brought them to the hospital to begin with. I just want to stay kind of on where we're at, where you came out of the bathroom, you saw the towel. And again, I was just trying to clarify or understand why that was a trigger for you to go at her or, like, run toward her or freak out just seeing the towel near her head. Yeah. Because that's not something that most people in a normal setting would see a towel. Like, my wife comes out with a towel on her head or near her head. I don't automatically think, you know, something's going to happen bad. Well, like, I don't know. I think it was just that, like, it was weird and we were so emotional and I've, like, like, I've been worried. Like, I think it was just that. It was just, like, that worry and that fear, like. Was she saying anything at all when you walked out? Did you say anything beforehand? No, we, like, literally said, like, our, like, most, like, tender "I love you"s on the bed and, like. When you went to the bathroom, how long was it? How long were you in there before you came out? Uh, couldn't have been very long. Maybe, like, a minute, two minutes. I don't know. But that's why I'm, like, I don't know. Like, it doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't make sense to investigators either. For starters, two minutes doesn't seem like enough time for Alana to find the keys, unlock the safe, wrap the gun in a towel, and make the rash decision to pull the trigger. And there are other questions, like, "Why wrap the gun in a towel at all?" So, the gun you were saying was, like, in a towel? She had it in a towel? Or did she have the towel with the gun? I'm just, I'm just trying to clarify. Uh, I think I saw, like, a hole in the towel. So, like, I don't know exactly, like, if it was just, like, half-wrapped, hole-wrapped. Like, I don't know. So, when you got the gun, did you grab the gun with the towel? I'm trying to think about, like, exactly. Hey, you're fine. Take your time. I said, it's, understand the situation. At this point, investigators aren't making any accusations. But the towel is a curious detail. It has two holes, leaving officers to believe it was wrapped around the gun twice. It could have been used to conceal the gun or muffle the sound, or to prevent fingerprints and gunshot residue analysis. Then again, that theory doesn't make much sense for a suicide. Another questionable piece of potential evidence isn't at the crime scene, but in Saluja's curious behavior after investigators arrive. - When the original deputies, they're not here anymore, so I haven't talked to them, but I guess they told somebody else that you were doing some searches on your phone when they first got here. - Mm-hmm. - Do you remember what you were searching? - Well, we were looking at couples counseling. - No, no, no, when the deputies were here, like when they actually got here and this whole thing was already going on. - Well, when I was sitting in here, I looked up hollow point bullets, because I told the guy, I was like, "I'm pretty sure I remember buying hollow point bullets." I looked it up 'cause I was like, could that do anything? But that was when I was in this room. - Okay, all right, and you were looking at it for what? - I just told him what they were, and I was like, "I don't know what this means." - Okay. - Because I was just like really freaked out about like, is she okay, is she not okay? So I'm like, I was trying to see like, would that like help her, like what? - At that moment, Alana is most definitely not okay. While doctors render life-saving aid to her in another room, police have one more question for Saluja, not about bullets or her relationship. They want to know about suite 1409. - It might sound weird, but when, I know that that room only has the one bed. So imagine this is that room. When you guys were sitting on the bed, who was closer to the window? - The window? - Yeah. - Uh, she was? - Okay, 'cause you said she was kind of like in the middle, so you were on the left side. - Yeah, uh-huh. - Okay, do you know if, I know you said she has a sister. Do you know any other family that she has? - Her dad, and they're gonna like not be okay at all when they hear. - That's when law enforcement has to make the devastating phone call to the Mikolas family. Charles' youngest daughter and Charlene's little sister, Alana, is on life support after being shot in the left temple, which they immediately flag as strange because Alana is right-handed. - And who's she's doing? - We have a deputy at the hospital right now. Any updates at all, he's supposed to text us so we can fill you in. - Last we heard, she was still alive. So just being critical. - Yeah. - Normally with head injuries, they kind of wait and evaluate because the brain can swell or stay the same. And if it swells, then that's a bad sign. So they have to kind of wait and evaluate. - Yeah. - Okay. - But at this time, I said last we heard, she was alive, so. - I know, I feel like that just doesn't mean anything to me. I'm like, people are alive and then they're not all the time. Like, I don't know, I just wish I had more information. - So do investigators, because when they compile all the evidence, they can't help but wonder whether Saluja's story that she walked out of the bathroom to find her girlfriend with a gun to her head is really true. - There's a lot of data in phones, things like that. I'll ask you straight up, did you shoot Alana? - No. - No, okay. - Oh my God. - Okay. - Yeah, I wouldn't do my job if I didn't ask you. - No, I know, that just like is. - Okay. - For now, Saluja is free to leave the hospital. And it's for the best that she does, because Alana's dad and sister are already on their way. When they arrive, they learn the gravity of Alana's condition, and by 5:14 p.m. that evening, Alana is taken off life support and pronounced dead by physicians at the Orlando Regional Medical Center. The following day, the Orange County medical examiner performs an autopsy on the nearly 27-year-old. He determines that the shot that killed Alana was fired from intermediate range, not from contact range. In self-inflicted gunshot wounds, medical examiners expect to see that the barrel of the gun was held directly against the entry point of the bullet. But that wasn't the case for Alana's wound. Crime scene analysis failed to show any evidence of Alana's DNA on the gun safe or the gun, but it did show that Saluja's DNA was on the safe, the handle of the gun, and the trigger. On May 22nd, 2024, the evidence pertaining to the death of Alana Mikolas is presented to a grand jury, and Megha Saluja is indicted on first-degree murder with a firearm. On June 1st, Saluja is arrested and booked at the Duval County Jail, where she comes in, and she currently awaits criminal trial. The family of Alana Mikolas is open on social media about their unwavering love for her. They have requested privacy while they grieve Alana and prepare for the upcoming trial. They do not plan to speak publicly on Alana's death until after the trial concludes. We are honoring their wishes and will continue to follow this story. ♪♪ ♪♪