(KTLA) – The cause of death has been determined for three young American women who were found dead in a hotel room at a resort in San Pedro, Belize late last month, NBC News reported.
The trio were found dead in a room at Royal Cahal Beach Resort on February 22nd. It comes after the housekeeper told management that he hadn’t knocked on the door for the second day in a row.
Investigators in Belize reported that Wafae El Arar, 26, Imane Mallah, 24, and Kaoutar Naqqad, 23, had found the bodies of a woman identified as alcohol, vomiting and the room attended by “Gummies.”
The autopsy report later discovered that none of the women had any illegal substances in the system.
On February 26th, Belize Fire Chief Colin Gillette told a Belize television outlet that carbon monoxide poisoning was not a matter of death. However, according to NBC News, the resort was temporarily closed and a second test was ordered.
On March 27, the executive director of National Forensic Services in Belize reported to local news outlets that all three women had died at fatal carbon monoxide levels within the system.
Meanwhile, the resort had already reopened on March 19, and in a statement “all possible measures” have been taken to ensure the safety of its guests, with “no signs of dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in any unit.”
Patrick M. Keefe Jr., Mayor of Revere, Massachusetts, is the young woman’s hometown and described the trio as “daughter, friends, contributors to our city,” NBC said in a previous report on the incident.
The women’s families are reportedly interested in the integrity of the investigation. The Massachusetts Chief Medical Inspector’s office will run its own tests to determine the method and cause of death.
