A week after three American friends vacationing in Mexico City were found dead mysteriously inside their Airbnb, their families are demanding answers from authorities.
Kandace Florence and Jordan Marshall, both 28, and Courtez Hall, 33, were in Mexico in late October celebrating Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. Florence’s boyfriend did not attend the trip with the three, but was on the phone with her on the night of Oct. 30 when she began feeling ill, telling him something wasn’t right, news station WAVY reported. The call suddenly disconnected and Florence’s boyfriend could no longer get a hold of her.
Concerned for her safety, the boyfriend reached out to the Airbnb host, asking to perform a welfare check.
When local police arrived on the scene that night, they found Florence, Marshall and Hall dead.
The families of the deceased said they have been in touch with the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and have traveled to Mexico City in person to search for an explanation of what happened. They say they are still in the dark on how their loved ones passed.
“The Mexican police were not very forthcoming with information,” Jennifer Marshall, Jordan’s mom, told station WTKR. “Also, the language barrier was incredibly difficult as well.”
The family has been unable to retrieve Marshall’s personal belongings including his wallet and laptop.
Florence’s father, Kelvin Florence, complained after no one in Mexico made an effort to reach out to the relatives of the deceased to notify them.
Marshall and Florence’s bodies were expected to be flown back to the U.S. in the coming days. Both grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and graduated from the same high school in 2011. Marshall later became a teacher and moved to New Orleans where he befriended Hall, a fellow educator.
According to her LinkedIn page, Florence earned an associate’s degree in marketing in 2015 and in 2020 launched her own candle making business, Glo Through It. Her mother, Freida Florence, described her as a “dreamer” who wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. She would have turned 29 on Thursday.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico confirmed the deaths of the three U.S. citizens, saying that officials were “closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death.”
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