How Three People Died Of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning In The Same Motel Room, Six Weeks Apart

consumerist.com ^ | June 13, 2013 | Laura Northrup

[grundle]

Back in April, an elderly couple died while staying in a Best Western motel in North Carolina. The local medical examiner couldn’t find a clear cause of death. The motel continued renting the room to others until last week, when an 11-year-old boy died and his mother was rushed to the hospital. The cause? Carbon monoxide poisoning from the pool heater.

Here’s the galling part: while waiting for toxicology results, motel management just kept renting out the room to other guests. If management had some something wacky like hold off on renting that room until the results came back, maybe no one else would have died. The Charlotte Observer, hometown newspaper of the 11-year-old, reporters learned that in other jurisdictions, blood tests for carbon monoxide poisoning come back in a matter of hours, not weeks.

The room in question happens to be right over the motel’s mechanical room. Carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless, deadly gas, seeped into the room through either the air conditioner or the gas fireplace vents. Officials believe that the gas came from the pool heater. Fire codes dictate that new houses built in North Carolina need carbon monoxide detectors, but they’re not required in motels. No staff from the medical examiner’s office visited the scene in April, and local emergency responders don’t carry equipment to detect carbon monoxide.

Blood test results would have showed that the elderly couple in April died of carbon monoxide poisoning. They were kicking off a three-week vacation, but died within hours of each other instead. The family didn’t believe that both parents, who were active and in good health, died of abrupt and simultaneous heart attacks. “Do you know how mad I am right now? Why are they still renting out this room?” their son asked reporters after learning about the child’s death in the same room.

If you happen to have stayed in Room 225 of the Best Western Plus Blue Ridge Plaza in Boone, N.C., please contact police at 828-268-6900.

[hoosierham]

It won’t bring the three back but I’d sue the h*ll out of the hotel.

[glorgau]

Wow, “management” is going to no longer own that hotel.

[DoughtyOne]

CM? Oh okay, we’ll get around to it...

[LyinLibs]

It’s probably owned by a moslem.

Getting back at Christians/Jews like “Sombody we know” does.

[bigheadfred]

[Venturer]

I believe they need to hire a new Medical Examiner also.

[SampleMan]

Out of curiosity, why do you blame the hotel more than the medical examiner. 3 weeks for a 10 minute lab workup on the blood?

And who’s job is it primarily to determine cause of death?

Yes, the hotel is at fault, but I have a lot of issues with the M.E. here.

[peeps36]

This motel management has a bright future working in the government. Ignorance and a lack of common sense are a must in DC.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I’ll bet that the owner of the hotel is from India.

[expat1000]

>>I’ll bet that the owner of the hotel is from India.

Best Western is owned by Indians?

[Safetgiver]

3 weeks for a 10 minute lab workup on the blood?..Oh, gee. Cherry red when you brought them in? We need a full NCIS here.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Here’s the galling part: while waiting for toxicology results, motel management just kept renting out the room to other guests.

Why shouldn't they? As far as they knew it was heart attacks that killed the first couple. Having a couple die within a bit of each other is unusual but not unknown.

[Orange1998]

And they will sue the pool maintenance contractor. Three people died and one was 11 years old who had his whole life in front of him only to be stolen by someone looking to squeeze the bottom line.

The only true punishment for total disregard from human life is for management to stay the night in room 225.

[Orange1998]

Yea Right! I hear room 226 is available, want to give it try?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I know it is hard but try to stop emoting and start thinking.

Do you have any proof that they knew anything was wrong with the room?

They were told their customers died of heart attacks. Heart attacks are not transmissible.

But you are ready to commit murder for what was not even a mistake but just a confluence of circumstances.

Perhaps it is time to have your moral compass checked.

[Zhang Fei]

Here’s the galling part: while waiting for toxicology results, motel management just kept renting out the room to other guests. If management had some something wacky like hold off on renting that room until the results came back, maybe no one else would have died.

That is an unwarranted conclusion. It's not as if carbon monoxide asphyxiation via pool heater is a common cause of death. I've never heard of anything like this before. Another possibility is that they either died of natural causes simultaneously or committed suicide via some difficult to detect means.

[heartwood]

Two fatal arrhythmias, no chest pain or shortness of breath, no waking up, no waking up when the spouse dies.

Nope.

[Zhang Fei]

This motel management has a bright future working in the government. Ignorance and a lack of common sense are a must in DC.

I think the ignorance is on the part of the hyperventilating writer. Death by pool heater is not a common event. Until this Consumerist writer typed up this asinine column, I had never heard of such a thing.

[heartwood]

I’ve heard of pool heaters and driveway heaters killing people with CO. When two healthy people die in the same room at the same time, without evidence of violence or suicide, look for an environmental cause.