Authorities in Belize have started an investigation into the deaths of three women from the United States whose bodies were found in a hotel room on Saturday.
Patrick M. Keefe Jr., mayor of Revere, Massachusetts, identified the three in a statement Tuesday as Wafae El Arar, Imane Mallah and Kaoutar Naqqad. He described them as “daughters, friends, and contributors to our city.”
The Associated Press reported the women were found at a resort in San Pedro, Belize, and said their ages were 26 for El Arar, 24 for Mallah and 23 for Naqqad.
Belize Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said at a news conference captured on video by Channel 5 Belize that three U.S. nationals, all women, were found in a hotel room on Saturday after housekeeping staff alerted management because there was no response from potential occupants after a second consecutive day of door knocks.
He did not identify the three on camera but said they were U.S. nationals born in Morocco. Family of the deceased declined to speak.
“It’s a tragic incident certainly for us and the families of those young women,” Williams said.
The police commissioner said the cause and manner of death are unknown and a matter for the Belize National Forensic Science Service, which joined the investigation alongside the U.S. Embassy.
In a statement, a U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed the deaths of three American citizens. “We are in touch with and collaborating closely with the local authorities’ investigation into the deaths,” the official said.
At the news conference, Williams said each body was next to vomit and that alcohol and “gummies” were in the hotel room. Gummies are generally associated with cannabis, a fact the police commissioner alluded to when he referenced a 2023 case in Belize in which children got their hands on marijuana gummies reported to have come from a police evidence room.
Though death by cannabis overdose is very rare, researchers at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine documented a fatal episode linked to marijuana consumption by a 27-year-old man who had a heart attack. The researchers concluded that such cases could increase in the age of often-legal, concentrated cannabis.
“We’re not saying at this time that the gummies caused death,” Williams said, “but we’re looking at every possibility.”
He said it’s too soon to determine what may have caused the trio’s fatality. Overseas toxicology testing will be conducted to determine what they may have consumed in the hours before their deaths, Williams said.
The police commissioner said testing to determine if carbon monoxide poisoning was a factor was also expected.
He appeared to discount foul play, saying the women were seen on security video going to their room on Thursday night, with no one entering or leaving through the time their bodies were discovered.
“They were not seen leaving that room again, and nobody was seen going into the room,” Williams said.
Keefe, the mayor of Revere, appeared to want to keep open all possibilities in probing the case, noting that the U.S. State Department in December recycled its “increased caution” travel advisory for Belize, which warns of violent crime, including daylight robberies and murder, in tourist areas.
“I have heard widespread concern from the families and community members about the lack of transparency in this investigation, and the media narrative painted by Belizean authorities,” he said in his statement Tuesday.
The mayor added: “We will exhaust all avenues, both domestic and abroad, to ensure a proper and fair analysis of this case.”
Austin Mullen and Abigail Williams contributed.