Three American friends went on a vacation to Mexico City. None of them returned to the US alive.
They died in an Airbnb rental, and their families had to struggle to find out how and why.
Jordan Marshall, 28, Kandace Florence, 28, and Courtez Hall, 33, travelled to Mexico together at the end of October to celebrate the popular Mexican holiday, Dia De Los Muertos, which in English means Day of the Dead.
Florence was talking to her boyfriend, who did not accompany the trio, on the phone on October 30. At one point in the conversation, Florence told her boyfriend that she wasn’t feeling well. Shortly after, the call was disconnected.
Her boyfriend tried frantically to call her back without success and he became anxious and concerned for her. He contacted the Airbnb hosts and asked them to go and check on their guests.
A short while later, local law enforcement officers arrived at the Airbnb residence and found Florence and her two friends, Marshall and Hall, already dead.
When the families heard about the deaths of their children, they weren’t told what had happened. They contacted the US Embassy in Mexico and also traveled to Mexico City, but they claim the authorities were not very helpful.
An investigation was undergoing to find out what killed the US tourists. Upon finding the three people dead, authorities didn’t instantly know what killed them, although they had a suspicion.
Jennifer Marshall, Marshall’s mother, told reporters that the Mexican police did not disclose any information about the deaths to the families. She also said her inability to speak and understand Spanish was a major problem.
Ms. Marshall said that her son and Florence had been best friends since high school. She had a picture of them dressed in their Day of the Dead costumes.
The US Department of State released a statement confirming the deaths of the three tourists. The statement said that the State Department was closely monitoring the local investigations into the cause of the young people’s deaths.
Kelvin Florence, Florence’s father, said that no-one in Mexico had reached out to the families in the US to inform them of their children’s deaths.
Freida Florence, her mother, was heartbroken. Her daughter was about to celebrate her 29th birthday this Thursday, but instead, the family will be holding a funeral for her.
On Tuesday, November 8, Mexican authorities revealed that the cause of death of the American tourists was carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the autopsy reports.
In the US alone, approximately 430 people die every year from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning and about 50,000 seek emergency treatment each year.