Texas Couple Found Dead in Airbnb in Mexico City 2 Years After 3 Americans Died Under Similar Circumstances

An American couple who was renting an apartment at Mexico City's Cuauhtémoc neighborhood were found dead on Feb. 25.

According to local media, Airbnb personnel contacted the couple to talk about their reservation as it was coming down to the final days. With staff members failing to get in contact with Laura Morales April, 37, and Hugo Iván Morales, 35, authorities arrived at the scene and broke into the apartment.

Suspicion was first raised when a neighbor went to notify the couple of a water leak repair. Once inside, local news outlet Telediario reported that authorities found the couple had been dead for at least eight hours due to what looked like carbon monoxide poisoning, although their official cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

When authorities arrived at the scene, they found that one of the burners of the gas stove was slightly turned on, which might have led to the gas leak and eventual poisoning.

As the Daily Mail reports, it is not the first time Americans have died while vacationing in Mexico City due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

In 2022, two New Orleans teachers and a business owner from Virginia Beach were vacationing in the La Rosita neighborhood when they were found dead at their Airbnb.

Kandace Florence, Jordan Marshall and Courtez Hall's autopsies showed signs of carbon monoxide poisoning and an inspection of the property proved that a water heater was leaking the toxic gas, law firm Lorenzo & Lorenzo wrote in a statement about their deaths.

According to the law firm that handled their case, carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless and tasteless gas that smoke alarms cannot detect. "A victim typically detects no gas and is unaware of why they feel sick," Lorenzo & Lorenzo said. "If they're in an enclosed area, death can result in a relatively short time."

The following year, on June 2023, another American couple vacationing in Cabo San Lucas were also found dead inside their five-star hotel room.

Autopsies found that Abby Lutz and her boyfriend John Heathco died inside their Hotel Rancho Pescadero room by "intoxication by an undetermined substance," and local police initially suspected the cause of death to be gas inhalation.