Families Mourn Three Revere Women Found Dead in Belize Resort

The families of three female tourists found dead at a San Pedro resort on Saturday are grieving their tragic loss. Twenty-three-year-old Kaoutar Naqqad, twenty-four-year-old Imane Mallah, and twenty-six-year-old Wafae El-Arar were found dead in their suite at the Royal Kahal Beach Resort. Their families are in contact with the U.S. Embassy, which is assisting with the investigation. Police Commissioner Chester Williams stated that a pathologist estimated they had been dead for up to 20 hours before being found. The women, of Moroccan descent with U.S. citizenship, were discovered by hotel staff after failing to respond to housekeeping. While no signs of injury were reported, authorities suspect a possible drug overdose due to vomit and froth found around their mouths. However, Mallah’s family told our colleagues at WCVB Boston that they don’t believe that they overdosed.

 

Muhammed Mallah, Father of Imane Mallah

“My wife talk to my daughter, no call..nothing. After two-thirty p.m. the embassy called me (telling) me that my daughter is dead. What happened? I don’t know if she died in the room, hotel. After that, I don’t know what happened. He came back to my house, her spoke to the other girls parents. Three people, same room, happy birthday vacation. This is not a problem. They are good friends, the best.”

 

Hajar El Khalfaoui, Friend of Imane Mallah

“So she had spoken to me about wanting to take a vacation and Wafae end Kaoutar made they rest in peace were also very good friends of hers and she was looking for a while. Last year she wanted to go on vacation with her other group of friends but she wasn’t able to because she got sick so this was kind of her redemption. My reaction at first was that it is not true, that she sick sometimes and that she goes MIA on days on end. And it happens all the time where she will be in the hospital and she won’t speak to me for two or three days and then she will just let me know that she is okay, she is in the hospital. So when they first told me I thought it was just that because they hadn’t told me about Wafae end Kaoutar yet. Then when they said it was also three and they said it might be an overdose, I know that that’s not true and I know that that’s a lie because Iman was clean. She wasn’t doing anything. Wafae end Kaoutar would never. The three of the would not die if that is the case. Iman, she is a very smart girl. She knows not to do that. She knows not to put her friends who she loves so much in that situation. There have been times where Iman when I graduated she didn’t want me to go to a party, she didn’t want to go with me because there would be drinking there. That was the kind of person she was. So when they said that it was OD I will never believe that that’s true. I am going to remember her as my sister as my best friend. I will never forget her. Iman means faith in Arabic and I know that Iman is in heaven and I know that she is much happier. She loves so deeply. She felt everything so deeply and so this life wasn’t always that easy for her. I know that God took her because he loves her and she loves God so much. She loves her faith so much. And I know that she is home now.”