‘Amazing Race’ Producer Found Dead, Assistant Unconscious in Uganda

Amazing Race producer and “adventure man” Jeff Rice was found dead next to his unconscious assistant, Katheryne Fuller, in Kampala, Uganda, where they were shooting a documentary. Ugandan investigators believe the cause of Rice’s death and Fuller’s current condition are the result of a supposed cocaine overdose via ingestion. Fuller remains unconscious in a hospital in Kampala, and the Ugandan government will not release her back to her family in South Africa because she is needed for questioning and suspected of drug offenses.

Large quantities of cocaine were found in Rice’s stomach, which typically suggests smuggling rather than recreational use, and that seems to be the way Ugandan investigators are playing this: two filmmakers doing a little smuggling on the side? Not impossible, but it seems unlikely, and if they were being employed as drug mules, there’s no way to rule out coercion, which is what the filmmakers’ family and friends suspect. They also allude to the fact that the pair were filming an investigatory documentary that may have made them targets for foul play. While Uganda police report no evidence of a struggle that would suggest Fuller and Rice were coerced into ingesting the drugs, Fuller’s passport and wallet are missing, further complicating her potential exit from Uganda. Isn’t it in the least bit strange that Fuller’s IDs are missing?

Jeff Rice, left and Katheryn Fuller, right

The whole incident feels like the final reel of an Oscar-bait movie with the previous reels missing: two reality television producers filming a documentary in a country with a tradition of human rights atrocities and totalitarian leadership, ending with one dead and the other physically incapacitated and under police watch. It’s hard not to look at it with the same intrigue as one would if it were a film, but the fact is that a husband and father is dead and his assistant is hospitalized in a country remote from her family and loved ones. Rice was planning on returning home for a visit this weekend to celebrate his youngest child’s second birthday, making this incident all the more tragic. I’ll definitely be keeping my eyes on this story to see how it unfolds.

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