Dominican Republic - Darryl Fornatora, 46, FL man missing, 28 Jan 2016

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One year later, parents of missing West Palm surfer have few answers

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/crime--law/one-year-later-parents-missing-west-palm-surfer-have-few-answers/eSTigzBxcokUAGcgVHjyOI/

West Palm Beach resident Darryl Fornatora disappeared Jan. 27, 2016, during a surfing trip to the Dominican Republic.

Fast forward a year and Fornatora’s parents say they’re no closer to finding out what happened to their son than they were the day he vanished.

“It has been an absolutely agonizing, devastating year for us,” said Gilbert Fornatora by phone Thursday from his home in Boynton Beach. “The news is, there has been no news.”

Private and public investigations, as well as a reward of $25,000, have turned up little usable evidence and the Fornatoras say their impression is that law enforcement authorities on the island are anxious to rule the case a drowning instead of a homicide to protect the area’s tourism business.

Gilbert Fornatora said his daughter and son-in-law met with U.S. Embassy and Dominican national police officials in September in which action plans were laid out but “nothing was done. It was very disappointing.”
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Crime Watch Daily Is Airing an Investigative Piece on Missing Surfer Darryl Fornatora
"In early 2016, Darryl Fornatora, a 46-year-old Palm Beach resident, vanished without a trace while on a surf trip in the Dominican Republic. For three months, officials searched for any clue into his mysterious disappearance, but everything seemed to come to a dead end.

The story of Fornatora’s disappearance is a strange one, and one that, according to his family, has changed several times. The missing man checked into his accommodations in Cabaret on January 25th, along with his friend and travel partner Matt Rigby. He went for a surf, then texted his mother to tell her he’d arrived safely. Then she never heard from him again. From there, the story gets stranger. Although the pair was scheduled to fly home together on January 31st, Rigby changed his flight, returning to Florida on Jan. 28th, along with Fornatora’s computer and surfboard. The next day, he called Mrs. Fornatora and told her that he hadn’t had any contact since Jan. 27th. The details, though, have changed more than once.

The family told Fox News “at one point he claimed that there was no surf and decided to travel home and that Fornatura stayed behind. Then he claimed Fornatora got upset one night as they headed into town and when he looked away from Fornatora for a split second, Fornatora was gone.”
"Then, three months after he disappeared, Fornatora’s wallet was found by a local diver in Cabarete. In it, there was his credit cards, a driver’s license, and hundreds of dollars in cash, reportedly with burn marks."
rbbm.
 
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https://nypost.com/2019/06/14/missi...dominican-republic-cases-will-renew-interest/
June 14, 2019 rbbm.
darryl-fornatora.jpg

Darryl Fornatora Facebook

"The family of a Florida surfer who vanished in the Dominican Republic three years ago hopes the recent spate of mysterious incidents out of the country might draw renewed interest in his case.

Since he vanished without a trace, Darryl Fornatora’s family has received limited information regarding his Jan. 27, 2016, disappearance while on a week-long surfing trip to the Caribbean island, the Palm Beach Post reported."

"Divers, helicopters and planes searched the coast looking for the missing surfer and ruled out drowning since he was an experienced swimmer, according to the Palm Beach Post. His body was never found."

“I feel this is a giant jigsaw puzzle and we have all the border pieces — the outline is there — but we’re missing all the pieces that make the picture come together — and Matt holds all of them,” Hendrex told the Palm Beach Post.


The family hopes the recent incidents in the country, including at least seven Americans dying under mysterious circumstances at resorts, will put pressure on authorities to investigate Darryl’s disappearance — and finally bring them closure."
 
That is a rather interesting story... his travel companion (Rigby) surely knows something he hasn’t shared. He left the DR with Darryl’s computer and Surfboard!?!? (Further research shows he basically left with a LOT of Darryl’s belongings!) So many of these tragedies have similarly questionable actions by the people involved... we don’t “know” what happened, but we can certainly guess his “friend” does. :(

ETA: there is a FB page for Darryl. I couldn’t link it on my mobile device “Searching fo Darryl Fornatura”.
 
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What happened to his computer and surfboard? Did his parents or anyone else get them back? I’m guessing those items had evidence which would unveil the truth, which is the only reason it would make sense for his “friend “ to take them with him
 
Sunshine95 said:
What happened to his computer and surfboard? Did his parents or anyone else get them back? I’m guessing those items had evidence which would unveil the truth, which is the only reason it would make sense for his “friend “ to take them with him
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RBBM. I wondered that, too. Other articles say the friend took a LOT of Darryl’s belongings (e.g., his keys!) when he left the DR. He also returned the rental car they’d gotten together. So he knew Darryl was gone - at least such that he no longer needed the car?

I’m not suggesting Rigby killed his friend, but (like in the Tyler Davis case), I believe he is holding information back that might make him look bad.

Also, Darryl’s wallet has been reported as having “hundreds of dollars” in it when it washed ashore. 1. That could be as little as two hundred dollars, by definition. Why not say exactly how much was found? 2. It doesn’t seem like a robbery occurred?

I don’t understand how the officials can rule out drowning “because he was a strong swimmer.” Umm, accidents happen. But I don’t believe he drowned in an accident, and I think the wallet was tossed in the ocean.

I hope his family finds answers, but I don’t see the recent events as helpful.

MOO. Wild speculation.
 
I read on the searching for page on Facebook- I guess it’ll be considered rumor because it’s not MSM- that his phone was found by an employee of the rental car agency, given to an employees relative and wiped clean before authorities found it. And that it was around $400 cash. And the friend went back down to DR shortly after reporting him missing to help... I have thoughts about that which I think I’m not allowed to share because of TOS.... but I recommend checking out the FB page dedicated to searching for answers
 
I just read this whole thread for the first time. It's really hard not to think Matt knows more or even exactly what happened...
 
Jan 25, 2022-
Family searches for answers 6 years after Darryl Fornatora disappeared in the Caribbean

<snipped>He arrived in the D.R. on Monday, Jan. 25.

The next day he texted his mom, saying he had a great time surfing.

After that, silence.

In the months after he disappeared, his phone and wallet turned up. But in the years since, there has been nothing.

Not from Dominican police or U.S. officials.

That friend Darryl was with, Matt, remains a sticking point for the Fornatoras. They think he may have answers.

Attempts to contact Matt, who police haven’t said is a suspect at this point, by CBS12 News over the years, including Tuesday, have been unsuccessful.<snipped>

cbs12.com

Family searches for answers 6 years after Darryl Fornatora disappeared in the Caribbean

This week marks six years since a South Florida man disappeared in the Dominican Republic under suspicious circumstances. Darryl Fornatora went to the country on a surfing trip with a friend but never came home. He grew up in a house in Ocean Ridge, the small, waterside town just east of Boynton...
cbs12.com cbs12.com
 
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