Two Americans were discovered dead in their hotel room on Tuesday evening, June 13.
Law enforcement agencies were alerted to the unresponsive state of two American nationals, initially presumed to be in their mid-30s, at the Hotel Rancho Pescadero in El Pescadero, Mexico, at approximately 9 pm on Tuesday. However, by the time the first responders arrived, both individuals had succumbed. An initial probe points toward gas inhalation as the cause of death.
The victims were later identified as Abby Lutz, 22 and her boyfriend, John Heathco, 41. It has been stated by the Attorney General’s Office of Baja California Sur that Lutz was a resident of Newport Beach, California.
Officials corroborated that both individuals had been dead for nearly 11 hours prior to being found, with no evidence of violent trauma observed on their bodies. It was reported that they had sought medical attention for symptoms they thought might be associated with food poisoning, before they returned to the hotel and were found dead.
The luxury hotel, a plush property associated with the Hyatt group, had reportedly ignored signs of a gas leak and had disabled their carbon monoxide detectors earlier in the year because people complained of the noise from alarms that went off. Staff and guests at the hotel had warned management about the possibility of leaks coming from outdoor fire pits at the hotel and that gas could be detected on the hotel grounds. Firefighters who entered the hotel room where the couple were found were overcome with the smell of gas.
