2 Americans found dead in their hotel room in Mexico's Baja California Sur
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — Police in a seaside community on Mexico's Baja California peninsula said Wednesday that two Americans were found dead in their hotel room.
Abby Lutz was identified as one of the victims by her family to CBS News. "Abby had an adventurous spirit and a wonderfully kind heart. She loved to travel, see new places, and share her zeal for life with those around her," the family said in a statement.
"Abby and her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment," her family said. The couple said they were feeling much better. A few days later, however, they received a call saying that Lutz and her boyfriend had died in their sleep.
Lutz was due to meet up with her father on Sunday for Father's Day, according to a GoFundme page organized to raise money for funeral transportation costs.
Police said the deaths occurred in the community of El Pescadero on Tuesday. The town is located between Todos Santos and the resort of Los Cabos, in Baja California Sur state.
U.S. officials said they were aware of the case but couldn't comment on it because of privacy concerns.
According to police, paramedics received a report Tuesday that the Americans were unconscious in their room. They were dead by the time paramedics arrived. The suspected cause of death was inhalation of gas.
There have been several cases of such deaths in Mexico due to poisoning by carbon monoxide or other gases. Such gases are often produced by improperly vented or leaky water heaters and stoves.
In October, three U.S. citizens were found dead at a rented apartment in Mexico, apparently victims of gas inhalation.
The Mexico City police department said the three were found unresponsive Oct. 30 in an upscale neighborhood. They'd apparently rented the dwelling for a short visit. Post-mortem examinations suggested the two men and one woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning.
In Mexico, proper gas line installations, vents and monitoring devices are often lacking.
In 2018, a gas leak in a water heater caused the deaths of an American couple and their two children in the resort town of Tulum, south of Playa del Carmen.
An inspection revealed that the water heater at the rented condominium was leaking gas. Prosecutors said the gas leak might have been caused by a lack of maintenance or the age of the equipment.
In 2010, the explosion of an improperly installed gas line at a hotel in Playa del Carmen killed five Canadian tourists and two Mexicans.
In that case, prosecutors said the gas line, apparently meant to fuel a pool heating unit, wasn't properly installed or maintained. They said gas leaking from the line may have been ignited in an explosion by a spark from an electric switch or plug.
In a separate case in the Caribbean coast resort of Playa del Carmen, prosecutors announced Wednesday that a judge ordered three men to stand trial on homicide charges in the May 30 killing of an Italian woman at a restaurant.
The woman was a longtime resident of Playa del Carmen, not a tourist. Prosecutors didn't provide information on a possible motive in that case.