Prosecutors in Mexico’s Baja California Sur state said Thursday that autopsies on two Americans found dead in their luxury hotel room suggest they died of “intoxication by an undetermined substance.”
Local police initially said gas inhalation was suspected as the cause of death.
The state prosecutor’s office said the bodies bore no signs of violence. The office did not say what further steps were being taken to determine the exact cause of death.
Friends have identified the victims as Abby Lutz, 28, and John Heathco, 41, or Orange County.
The nutritional supplements company LES Labs, based in Covina, California, lists Heathco as its founder. According to her Facebook profile, Lutz was originally from Utah and was working as a Nanny in Orange County.
“While on a beautiful trip in Mexico, Abby and her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment,” a friend of Lutz posted on a GoFundMe page. “We were told they were feeling much better a few days later. We received a phone call saying that they had passed away peacefully in their hotel room in their sleep. We have been told it was due to improper venting of the resort and could be Carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Prosecutors said the two had been dead for 11 or 12 hours when they were found in their room at the upscale Hotel Rancho Pescadero near Cabo San Lucas late Tuesday.
Police said then that the suspected cause of death was inhalation of gas.
“Abby was the most beautiful soul and we will miss her so much,” the GoFundMe organizer said.
Henar Gil, the General Manager of Rancho Pescadero, released a statement saying:
“Beyond anything else, on behalf of the entire Rancho Pescadero team, we are deeply affected and sorry for the loss the families and loved ones of Abby and John are enduring. This is a shocking and unimaginable situation, and we are committed to supporting and treating them with understanding and compassion.
We continue to cooperate with authorities as they conduct their investigation to understand the cause of this terrible tragedy. We understand authorities immediately tested the air quality in the room after responding to the situation, and at the time, did not report any findings of gas or carbon monoxide and advised that the hotel was cleared to continue normal operations. The hotel continues to monitor air quality.
The safety and well-being of guests and colleagues is our top priority. As the investigation continues, the building where the incident took place is currently closed off.”
There have been several cases of such deaths in Mexico due to poisoning by carbon monoxide or other gases. Proper gas line installations, vents and monitoring devices are often lacking for water heaters and stoves in the country.
In October, three U.S. citizens found dead at a rented apartment in Mexico City were apparently victims of gas inhalation.
In 2018, a gas leak in a water heater killed an American couple and their two children in the resort town of Tulum, south of Playa del Carmen.
In 2010, an explosion traced to an improperly installed gas line at a hotel in Playa del Carmen killed five Canadian tourists and two Mexicans.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
