Three American tourists died of carbon monoxide poisoning while staying in an Airbnb rental in Mexico City last month, officials said.
The three men were staying in a rental in a residential compound in the La Rosita neighborhood when they were found dead Oct. 30, according to the Mexico City attorney general’s office, which investigated the deaths.
The victims were identified by relatives as Kandace Florence and Jordan Marshall – both from Virginia Beach, Va. – and Courtez Hall, who was a schoolteacher in New Orleans.
The three friends were in town for Day of the Dead festivities when Florence called her boyfriend and told him she wasn’t feeling well, Florence’s parents told ‘Good Morning America.’
“She said, ‘I was vomiting and dizzy and my legs were shaking,’ said her mother, Freida Florence.
Jordan Marshall and Kandace Florence were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in an Airbnb in Mexico City.
Courtesy of the family of Jordan Marshall | Courtesy of the family of Kandace Florence
Marshall’s sister, Jasmine Marshall, told “Good Morning America” that she received a message from Florence’s boyfriend on Instagram that he was unable to reach Florence for the rest of the week. day after this call.
“So it worried him,” she said. “So he contacted the Airbnb host to do a wellness check and they were all found to be unresponsive.”
Resort security guards detected an intense smell of gas in the apartment and gas inhalation poisoning was initially suspected, the attorney general’s office said in a statement this week. Blood tests determined that the three Americans – two men and one woman – died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the office said.
Investigators discovered a fault in the apartment’s gas boiler, which gave off the smell of gas as well as carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office told ABC News. .
One of the victims was found dead in the bathroom and allegedly tried to take a shower, which could have activated the boiler, the spokesman said.
Jordan Marshall and Kandace Florence were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning in an Airbnb in Mexico City.
Courtesy of the family of Jordan Marshall | Courtesy of the family of Kandace Florence
An Airbnb spokesperson confirmed that the three Americans were staying in a space listed on its platform.
“This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the families and loved ones coping with this heavy loss,” an Airbnb spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News. “Our priority now is to provide support to those affected while authorities investigate what happened and we are available to cooperate with the investigation in any way we can.”
The US Embassy in Mexico said it was “closely following” the investigation into the deaths of three US citizens in the country.
“We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” he said in a statement earlier this week. “Out of respect for the families’ privacy, we have nothing further to add at this time.”
The three deaths come after another American died of carbon monoxide poisoning while staying in a vacation rental in Mexico City late last month, the victim’s family told ABC San Diego station KGTV. The woman’s two siblings were also hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning, their family told the station.
Three American tourists who were found dead at a Bahamas resort in May also died of carbon monoxide poisoning, officials said.
The families of the victims are calling for more regulation regarding the requirement for functioning carbon monoxide detectors in rental properties.
“We will fight to make sure that the mandates are implemented so that no other family has to deal with this type of heartbreak and heartache,” Marshall’s mother, Jennifer Marshall, told “Good Morning America”.
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