Gas leak was ruled out

One of the first medical responders called to a luxury hotel in Mexico where two Americans were found dead earlier this week ruled out carbon monoxide poisoning as a possible cause of their demise.

The possibility of a gas leak was immediately nixed when they were called to the Rancho Pescadero in Cabo San Lucas where Abby Lutz, 28, and John Heathco, 41, were found dead Tuesday, paramedic Erick Abundis told Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo Friday.

“When we got to the hotel, there was a report at first that there was some kind of gas leak,” Abundis said. “We reviewed the perimeter and confirmed that there was no escape of gas.”

According to Abundis, the California couple died of “intoxication of a substance that has not been determined.”

Workers at the Hyatt-owned Pacific Coast resort, where rooms go for more than $600 a night, told the Los Angeles Times this week that managers at the hotel ignored a possible gas leak for months and disabled carbon monoxide detectors to stop their alarms from disturbing hotel guests.

Ricardo Carbajal, a former night manager at Rancho Pescadero, told the newspaper that carbon monoxide detectors sounded frequently over a period of about three months late last year, probably because of leaks in a system that delivers gas to outdoor fire pits.

Heathco and Lutz went to the hospital days before their deaths because they thought they had food poisoning, according to a GoFundMe set up by Lutz’s family.

“While on a beautiful trip to Mexico, Abby and her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment.

“We were told they were feeling much better a few days later,” the family wrote.

Things took an unexpected turn when they later received a call that the couple “had passed away peacefully in their hotel room in their sleep. We have been told it was due to improper venting of the resort and could be carbon monoxide poisoning,” Lutz’s family added.

Lutz and Heathco had been dead for about 10 to 11 hours before their bodies were discovered after police and paramedics responded to reports that the couple was found unconscious.

Neither of their bodies had any signs of violence, officials said.