Two Americans were found dead in their hotel room in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico – Police in a coastal community on Mexico’s Baja California peninsula said Wednesday that two Americans were found dead in their hotel room.

Abby Lutz was identified by her family to CBS News as one of the victims. “Abby had an adventurous spirit and a wonderfully kind heart. She loved to travel, see new places and share her zest 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 for treatment,” her family said. The couple said they are doing much better. A few days later, however, they received a call that Lutz and her boyfriend had died in their sleep.

Lutz was scheduled to meet her father on Sunday for Father’s Day, according to a GoFundme page organized to raise money for funeral transportation costs.

According to the police, the deaths occurred on Tuesday in the municipality of El Pescadero. The town is located between Todos Santos and the resort town of Los Cabos in the state of Baja California Sur.

US officials said they were aware of the case but could not comment on privacy concerns.

According to the police, paramedics received the message on Tuesday that the Americans were lying unconscious in their room. They were dead when paramedics arrived. The suspected cause of death was gas inhalation.

In Mexico there have been several cases of such deaths due to poisoning from carbon monoxide or other gases. Such gases are often produced by improperly vented or leaking water heaters and furnaces.

In October, three US citizens were found dead in a rented apartment in Mexico, apparently from gas poisoning.

Mexico City Police said the three were found dead in an upscale neighborhood on Oct. 30. They had apparently rented the apartment for a short visit. Autopsies revealed that the two men and one woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Mexico often lacks proper gas pipeline installations, vents, and monitoring equipment.

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 gas was leaking from the water heater in the rented condo. Prosecutors said the gas leak could have been caused by lack of maintenance or the age of the equipment.

In 2010, an improperly installed gas main exploded at a hotel in Playa del Carmen, killing five Canadian tourists and two Mexicans.

In that case, prosecutors said the gas line, which appeared to be intended to power a pool heater, was improperly installed or maintained. They said gas leaking from the line may have been ignited by a spark from an electrical switch or plug in an explosion.

In another case in the Caribbean coastal town of Playa del Carmen, prosecutors said Wednesday that a judge had ordered three men to stand trial for murder in connection with the May 30 killing of an Italian woman at a restaurant.

The woman was a longtime resident of Playa del Carmen and not a tourist. The public prosecutor’s office did not provide any information on a possible motive in this case.