Iowa Family-of-Four Found Dead in Their Mexican Condo While on Vacation
The bodies of an Iowa family-of-four have been found in the Mexican condo where they traveled for vacation last week, PEOPLE confirms.
There is no evidence of foul play at this time, authorities say. Autopsy results are pending.
Kevin and Amy Sharp, of Creston, were reportedly bound for Tulum on Mexico’s Caribbean coast when they headed out of the country with their children, Adrianna and Sterling.
Just after midnight Friday, the family was reported missing by relatives in Creston, according to a news release from local police. The Sharps had arrived in Mexico, according to a Creston police official, but were not heard from again.
Police on Friday quickly contacted the U.S. State Department, according to the news release. In an ensuing welfare check, authorities discovered all four Sharps dead in their Akumal condo: Kevin, 41, Amy, 38, 12-year-old son Sterling and 7-year-old daughter Adrianna. Akumal is 13 miles north of Tulum.
Amy’s sister told the Creston News Advertiser that the last that relatives had heard from the Sharps was not long after they arrived in Mexico. “On Wednesday [March 14] at 7 p.m., Amy sent a text to our mom that said, ‘We made it to our condo,’ ” Renee Hoyt said. “That is the last communication she made.”
Hoyt said she had been told that Kevin texted someone else about 5 p.m. on March 15 but did not respond to a subsequent message, according to the paper.
The family was scheduled to return to the U.S. on Wednesday, the News Advertiser reports.
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Mark Williams, the chief dispatcher for Creston police, tells PEOPLE he does not have any information about where the bodies were found in the condo or for how long it appears they were dead before being discovered.
A cousin of Amy’s told ABC News, “To my knowledge, they went to sleep and never woke up.”
According to the Yucatan Times, the kids’ bodies were in the living room and their parents were in a bedroom. The four were “found in [an] advanced state of decomposition.”
The Sharps’ relatives are requesting their privacy, according to the news release.
A State Department official tells PEOPLE the American consulate in Mérida, Mexico, is supporting the Sharps’ relatives and “we extend our sincere condolences to friends and family.”
The official declined additional comment “out of respect for the family during this difficult time.”
Authorities in Tulum did not immediately return requests for comment.
Late Thursday, someone who appears to know the Sharps posted about the case on Facebook before their bodies were found.
“They have not been in contact with family or friends since LAST Thursday night after reporting that they made it to their condo safely,” Ashli Peterson wrote.
In a follow-up post Friday, Peterson wrote, “There was no foul play! At this time that is all the information we have. Please respect the family at this time as they go through the grieving process. Thank you for all the posts, shares, and kind words.”
• With reporting by JASON DUAINE HAHN
