The Mexico condominium where an Iowa family was found dead was sold to its current, private owner in 2013, according to a statement.
The homeowner’s association for a condominium where a vacationing Iowa family was found dead said Monday that the property has been regularly rented out to tourists and that its current owner took possession in 2013.
A state prosecutor told local media Monday that a gas leak in a water heater in the unit was suspected in the deaths of Kevin and Amy Sharp and their two children, of Creston.
The TAO Housing Association released a statement saying the apartment the Sharp family was staying in was sold Nov. 1,2013, to a private owner. The owner has since become “the legal representative and also, accountable for its maintenance,” according to the statement.
TAO declined to share the owner’s name or specifics about the unit, citing the ongoing investigation.
Kevin Wayne Sharp, 41; Amy Marie Sharp, 38; and their children, Sterling Wayne Sharp, 12; and Adrianna Marie Sharp, 7; were staying in the QI Building in a resort community known as TAO Mexico, based in Akumal, Mexico.
On Friday, after family members raised concerns about the Sharps’ whereabouts, U. S. officials contacted Mexican officials. That morning, a security team from TAO reviewed data at the compound security checkpoints and determined the family was staying in a private apartment. Authorities came to the apartment and found their bodies, according to the statement.
Mexican authorities have said they suffocated after inhaling toxic gases.
The apartment was regularly rented out to tourists by the owner with the assistance of a property manager.
The Attorney General’s Office in Mexico is expected to have specific results regarding the Sharp family’s cause of death within 10 days.
“We, as the homeowners association, are at the total disposal of authorities to help and assist in any matter we can; likewise, we share the grief of all those who have lost loved ones and express our heartfelt sympathies with family and friends of the Sharp family,” the statement read.
