by Zachary Rowell

Production facilitator Jeff Rice was found dead in his hotel room in Kampala, Uganda, and his production assistant is fighting for her life after a suspected poisoning. Jeff Rice was not currently working on, ‘The Amazing Race’ but he did work on season 20, which just premiered on CBS last Sunday. Rice has also worked on shows like, ’Whale Wars’ and the South African version of, ’The Biggest Loser.’

“They were not attacked but [evidence] points towards being poisoned. At this stage it is quite difficult to give you any firm reports as the incident is currently under investigation by the Uganda police.” Rice’s widow Sally Blackman told “FoxNews.com”.

It’s being reported that Jeff Rice and his assistant were poisoned after a failed shakedown attempt by local thugs. However, no further details have been released at this time and Blackman did not want to speculate on the details, in fear she might “jeopardize the investigation.” She did comment on the health of the production assistant who was also found poisoned in the hotel room…

“His production assistant, currently working for Maverick Entertainment, was also discovered in a coma and has been hospitalized in Uganda. She is not shown any improvement as [of] yet.”

As of right now CBS still has yet to comment on the situation.