Couple Found Dead in DR Believed to Be Missing NY Couple
Police in the Dominican Republic say the
missing couple from New Yorkwho mysteriously vanished while vacationing in the country are believed to be dead.
At a Spanish-language press conference Tuesday, police in the Dominican Republic said a woman, believed to be Portia Ravenelle, was found unconscious on the side of a road. She was placed in intensive care at the hospital and died on April 4, according to police.
Meanwhile, a man's body, believed to be Orlando Moore, was found in a car in the ocean on March 31, according to police. Authorities haven't been able to retrieve the vehicle due to current conditions.
Police said the couple had no identification on them, but matched their description. Officials hope fingerprints will lead to a positive ID.
There is growing desperation as a frantic search is underway for a missing New York couple who vanished in the Dominican Republic. Wale Aliyu reports.
(Published Monday, April 8, 2019)
The U.S. Department of State on Tuesday said it was working closely with local authorities in the Dominican Republic on investigative efforts.
The Mount Vernon couple flew out of Newark Liberty International Airport on March 23 for a getaway in the Dominican Republic. They were supposed to return home to Mount Vernon on March 27.
Two weeks later, their family hasn't heard from them. Their phones are off. And their car is still parked at the airport.
Moore's sister, Lashay Turner, said her first move was to reach out to the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Then she filed a police report.
Cops say the pair checked out of their hotel in Samana, but what happened to them next remains a mystery at this point. Officials say they didn't make the flight back to Newark, and there's no record of them getting back to the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined comment, saying privacy concerns preclude them from discussing individual cases of international travelers.
Turner said her brother and Ravenelle had a rental car in the Dominican Republic, but that vehicle is missing. A picture believed to be the latest of them posted to social media before they vanished shows them riding horses together on their trip.
Turner says her brother has a daughter -- and he's not the type to "just run off on a hiatus ... he's gonna let someone know where he is."