N.C. Hotel Deaths Update: Carbon monoxide leak responsible for 3 deaths traced to pool heater, police say
(CBS/AP) BOONE, N.C. - A faulty pool water heater was the source of carbon monoxide that killed an 11-year-old boy at a North Carolina hotel last weekend and a couple who slept in the same room about two months earlier, police said Wednesday.
Plumbing and other investigators who looked into the Best Western Plus Blue Ridge Plaza pointed to the water heater located beneath room 225 as the source of the killer gas, Boone police said in a statement.
"The exhaust system for the pool water heater had multiple deficiencies," police said. The deadly gas from the faulty water heater was able to seep into the room through an opening under the gas fireplace unit and the wall-mounted heating and air-conditioning unit, police said.
Carbon monoxide killed Jeffrey Williams, 11, of Rock Hill, S.C., on Saturday. His 49-year-old mother, Jeannie Williams, was rushed to a hospital and survived. That came nearly two months after carbon monoxide in the same room killed 73-year-old Daryl Dean Jenkins and 72-year-old Shirley Mae Jenkins of Longview, Wash.
READ: Hotel deaths highlight often undetected killer
It was not until Monday that test results confirmed what caused the deaths of Daryl and Shirley Jenkins. According to CBS affiliate WBTV, family members say they waited weeks for the results to come back and that if the results hadn't taken so long, the problem could have been fixed or the room could have remained closed.
Investigators reportedly say they had been requesting the results from the State Medical Examiner's office for weeks but got no response.
A voice mail message left Wednesday at the offices of Appalachian Hospitality Management, which runs the hotel, was not returned. A man answering the phone Tuesday told The Associated Press that company executives were referring questions to the Boone police.
Local health inspectors checked the hotel pool six weeks before anyone died, but the scope of their review didn't include investigating for the poisonous gas by checking the water heater, the Appalachian District Health Department said in a statement Tuesday.
During a March 6 inspection, a health inspector noted that the hotel violated a safety rule requiring ventilation of storage rooms where pool chemicals are stored. The statement quoted the inspector's report as saying the room's ventilation problem "needs to be corrected ASAP."
The hotel was not fined and did not face other consequences, but the chemical storage was to be revisited at the next inspection, health department spokeswoman Jennifer Greene said in an email to The AP. Inspections are conducted at least twice a year, Greene said.
According to WBTV, the water heater, which was found to be the source of the carbon monoxide leak, hadn't been inspected since the hotel was built in 2000. Officials told the station there is nothing that requires the heater to be inspected.
The station also reports that carbon monoxide detectors are not required in hotels located in North Carolina.
Police officials reportedly say authorities have been in contact with the District Attorney's Office and police have not ruled out possible charges.
The hotel has been closed by police and investigators want anyone who stayed in room 225 at the Best Western Plus Blue Ridge Plaza in Boone, N.C. to contact them by calling 828-268-6900 or emailing Sgt. Matt Stevens at matt.stevens@townofboone.net.
A memorial service for 11-year-old Jeffery Williams is scheduled for Sunday.