Two Americans found dead in luxury hotel room in Mexico

Two Americans found dead in luxury hotel room in Mexico’s Baja California Sur

A flock of seabirds on a beach with hills in the background

June 15, 2023 Updated 3:50 PM PT

MEXICO CITY — Two Americans were found dead in their hotel room at a luxury resort in Baja California Sur, Mexico, according to authorities.

The victims were found around 9 p.m. Tuesday at Hyatt’s Rancho Pescadero, a boutique beachfront hotel in El Pescadero, a popular surf destination between Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas.

The bodies were found after a housekeeper knocked repeatedly without receiving an answer and heard a shower running, according to an internal police report obtained by The Times. Hotel staffers entered the room and found the body of a woman. In the bathroom, they found the body of a man on the shower floor, the report said.

Paramedics responded to a report of unconscious hotel guests and found the two dead of suspected gas inhalation, the Associated Press reported.

The victims were identified in the police report as John Heathco and Abby Lutz. According to the Baja California Sur attorney general’s office, Heathco was 41 and Lutz, a Newport Beach resident, was 28, ABC News reported.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of our beloved Abby,” Lutz’s family said Thursday in a statement. “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 organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the costs of a funeral and transportation of her remains.

On the GoFundMe page, Gabrielle Slate, Lutz’s stepsister, wrote that Lutz and “her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment.”

After a few days, they had been told Lutz and her boyfriend were on the mend, Slate wrote.

“We received a phone call saying that they had passed away peacefully in their hotel room in their sleep,” Slate wrote. “We have been told it was due to improper venting of the resort and could be Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

John Heathco is listed as the founder of LES Labs, a California-based company that makes dietary supplements, on LinkedIn. A website for LES Labs lists a man named John Heathco as the founder.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Baja California Sur.

“We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect for the privacy of the families, we have nothing further to add at this time.”

The Baja California Sur attorney general‘s office said the victims had been dead for about 10 or 11 hours when they were found, ABC reported. There were no signs of foul play on the victims’ bodies. The attorney general‘s office said in a statement to ABC News that the cause of death was “intoxication by substance to be determined.”

Authorities have not confirmed the cause of death with Rancho Pescadero, hotel general manager Henar Gil said in a statement, calling the situation “a terrible tragedy” and adding that “our hearts are with the impacted families and loved ones.”

“The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority,” Gil said. “We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to this situation, and we are not aware of any threat to guests’ safety or well-being.”

A Hyatt spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether rooms at Rancho Pescadero, which start at more than $600 a night, are equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.

Gas leaks from appliances and faulty lines are common across Mexico and have been linked to tourist deaths in the past.

In October, three Americans were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning at their Airbnb while on vacation in Mexico City.

In March 2022, an explosion caused by a gas leak killed two people and injured 18 in the tourist town of Playa del Carmen. In 2018, a family of four from Iowa was killed by gas poisoning in a condominium in a resort town an hour from Cancun.