Families are demanding answers more than a week after three American friends vacationing in Mexico City were mysteriously found dead inside their Airbnb.
Kandace Florence and Jordan Marshall, both 28, and Courtez Hall, 33, had traveled to Mexico in late October to celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.
Florence’s boyfriend, who did not go with the trio on the trip, was on the phone with her on the night of Oct. 30 when she started feeling ill and told him something was not right, according to the station WAVY.
The call then got disconnected and the boyfriend could no longer get a hold of Florence.
Concerned for her safety, the boyfriend reached out to the Airbnb host, asking to perform a welfare check.
Local police who arrived on the scene that night found Florence and her two male companions, Marshall and Hall, dead.
The families of the deceased said they have been in touch with the US Embassy in Mexico and traveled to Mexico City in person in search of an explanation for what had happened, but they still do not know how their loved ones died.
“The Mexican police were not very forthcoming with information,” Jennifer Marshall, Jordan’s mom, told the station WTKR. “Also, the language barrier was incredibly difficult as well.”
The family still has not been able to retrieve Jordan Marshall’s personal belongings, including his wallet and laptop.
Florence’s father, Kelvin Florence, complained that no one in Mexico has made an effort to reach out to the relatives of the deceased back in the US and notify them.
Marshall and Florence’s bodies were expected to be flown back to the US in the coming days.
Marshall and Florence both grew up in Virginia Bleach 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 the young entrepreneur as a “dreamer” who wanted to make a difference in the lives of others.
Florence would have turned 29 on Thursday.
The US Embassy in Mexico confirmed the deaths of the three US citizens and said its officials were “closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death.”
