Found Deceased Dominican Republic - Orlando Moore & Portia Ravenelle, from NY on vacation, April 2019

[Satchie]

Oh dear, this sounds like a nightmare result. It's like she had a premonition about getting back to the airport. I'm very sorry for the loss of two lives and such pain for the families.

I see a 1:30 am flight to Newark from the Las Americas airport near Santo Domingo, near where the bodies have been found. Santo Domingo Airport Departures

To get to the airport early for check-in, plus return a rental, plus drive 2.5 hours, plus pack, plus check out...they may well have lost track of time while enjoying themselves at the resort, and then were driving too fast to try to make up time.

 

[acutename]

The police just had a press conference. They found the car and his body and the sea, and she at a local hospital as a Jane doe, both dead. Apparently a car accident on the way to the airport.


Turistas norteamericanos reportados desaparecidos murieron en accidente de tránsito en autopista Las Américas

"He mentioned that the place where the vehicle fell is known as the blender, because of the strong currents of water that hit the bottom." (article above and google translate).

Though the translations are not always sublime, I have found more info in all the local articles.

 

[Herat]

100 miles away from the airport is really a long way. I'd guess they only drove that road once, on the way from the airport to the hotel. And it's always a bit different looking driving in the reverse direction, especially at night.

From the times given, they were seriously late and could miss the plane, so they were likely speeding. After drinking (a lot), dark road without lighting, unfamiliar territory. It's certainly plausible and so sad to think about.

 

[Satchie]

Wow, this is from Wikipedia, a description of the highway they would have been travelling, as it approaches the airport

"This portion of DR-3 (specifically when traveling eastbound) is also very dangerous due to its proximity to the Caribbean Sea, and has been the cause of many fatal slip-off accidents; this problem is yet to be addressed by the Dominican authorities."
DR-3 - Wikipedia, section on the Autopista de las Americas.

 

[crhedBngr]

Prayers for both Victims and their Families.

 

[acutename]

There is only one airport that is 100 miles from their resort, one is 97 miles. The route you would need to take to either is very rural and completely isolated for most of the route (Route 5 and 7).

not that it matters at this point, but they did drive from the airport to the resort, right? Maybe that is why OM thought it would not be a big deal to drive back. Also he is from NY- maybe he drives in unsavory areas at other times and just was not feeling particularly fearful about this trip.

 

[Bravo]

So very sad. RIP Orlando and Portia

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Missing New York couple's bodies may have been found days ago, Dominican Republic officials say - CNN

Oh no!

What a heartbreaking outcome!
This is so, so sad. I have so many questions....
My thoughts are with their families. What devastating news to learn.

RIP Orlando and Portia.

 

[Inthedetails]

What a heartbreaking outcome!
This is so, so sad. I have so many questions....
My thoughts are with their families. What devastating news to learn.

RIP Orlando and Portia.

I agree - it is heartbreaking. I am very sorry and my heart goes out to their loved ones.

This is confusing me:
"A woman with trauma to her body was also transported to a hospital from the area and died four days later, according to the report."

Does this refer to Portia??

https://nypost.com/2019/04/09/bodie...-car-crash-in-dominican-republic-report-says/

jmo

Edited to add: just caught up with the thread and the conversations. So it was Portia and discovered days ago. So sad.

 

[Gardenista]

Has anyone ever heard of an accident where one person lands in the road before the car goes off a cliff with another person?

 

[Inthedetails]

Has anyone ever heard of an accident where one person lands in the road before the car goes off a cliff with another person?

I don't know, but what I'm wondering is if there is a missing person case, wouldn't hospitals be contacted to see if there are any Jane or John Does?

I feel terrible for the family searching for the couple and one of them was in the hospital for days. How was that missed?

jmo

 

[acutename]

Has anyone ever heard of an accident where one person lands in the road before the car goes off a cliff with another person?

I was asking about that above.... open window and no seat belt? Don't know.

this car has good safety ratings FWIW:

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia/rio/safety

 

[Gardenista]

I was asking about that above.... open window and no seat belt? Don't know.

this car has good safety ratings FWIW:

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia/rio/safety

Not seeing it happen. She'd have to be hanging way far out of the window like another case we had. Seems like she was too paranoid to get to the airport to do that.

 

[katydid23]

I was asking about that above.... open window and no seat belt? Don't know.

this car has good safety ratings FWIW:

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/kia/rio/safety

She doesn’t sound like a woman that’s going to speed on the freeway at night with no
Seatbelt and the window open. Especially with her fear of carjackers

 

[kmclaren]

Has anyone ever heard of an accident where one person lands in the road before the car goes off a cliff with another person?

Yes, I was in one a very long time ago. 4 of us in the car and we went over an embankment and down into a riverbed. One of the guys was somehow ejected before we hit bottom and he was up at the top of the road - no seatbelt and windows were open.

 

[Gardenista]

Yes, I was in one a very long time ago. 4 of us in the car and we went over an embankment and down into a riverbed. One of the guys was somehow ejected before we hit bottom and he was up at the top of the road - no seatbelt and windows were open.

TY for that info. I guess if her family doesn't cry foul, we'll know she didn't typically wear her seatbelt.

 

[Vern]

will be interesting to see if their belongings are in their rental car... if so, I believe too much rum and a car accident. If not, maybe still foul play. sometimes you drive off a road and other times you could be run off a road, IMO.

Also, the car was supposedly a Kia Rio - front wheel drive subcompact. No sun roof or anything like that, but I imagine (?) if the windows were open and she was not wearing a seat belt (?) it would be easy to be thrown out? (any people on here with more car accident expertise?)

Lastly, maybe even though the plane was to depart at 2 a.m., the last boarding call would have been around 1:40 a.m.? Maybe something like that would explain the discrepancy in reported flight times. Or maybe there was even a time change and they did not get the message on time? WIFI can be spotty in places.

The car is submerged along the coastal road near to where she was found along the road. IMO, I'm pretty certain no one ran them off the road, but if someone did do that - their belongings would still be inside the car in that case too I'd think.

If a window were open and the car rolled over on it's way in, I'd also thing she could have come out that window and had her head trauma. An expert would know, but I think that would be possible even were she belted in.

I agree on the loading time for the plane. They were missing it (and the flight), but I think that explains that speeding may also have been a factor along with the alcohol, they were still trying desperately to catch it despite their tardiness. Perhaps lack of funds to rebook themselves on a later flight, work commitments at home the next day etc.

Totally tragic circumstances bringing an end to their lives. May their families have peace and find comfort in having them found and brought home.

 

[margarita25]

I’d like to see an enhanced visual of the location where this occurred. I would like to examine it as one would legitimately review an incident as related to accident reconstruction.

I do want to say something for the record: it appears this case is being presented as one which was just an unfortunate accident, and BBM this very well could be true; however police corruption is rampant there as I indicated in the above post. This nation is poor and relies heavily on tourism, moo. If this were to be, say hypothetically a robbery, or SA for example, I doubt they’d be jumping for joy for this information to get out to the public. There is also the possibility one might have dumped the car to destroy evidence, and if this place was notorious for accidents, well then how possibly convenient.

AGAIN, I’m not saying that this is not an accident; I’m just saying I’d sure like to look at this one much more closely.

Question, I wonder about cell service there, if they were using GPS, especially if they got lost.

 

[Vern]

not that it matters at this point, but they did drive from the airport to the resort, right? Maybe that is why OM thought it would not be a big deal to drive back. Also he is from NY- maybe he drives in unsavory areas at other times and just was not feeling particularly fearful about this trip.

I'm not certain that they did drive themselves from the airport to the resort. One of the articles states that they rented the car for three days - specifically so they could get back to the airport for the flight out. Now, if they were only spending three days at the resort maybe, but I'm thinking that most go for like 1 week jaunts no?

Perhaps the resort in question doesn't have transportation service for that 0130 flight? Or any transportation service?

 

[margarita25]

I’ve got a little bit of a nagging vibe on this one...could be nothing. Maybe just an accident but I’d like to see proof. I know the lengths certain entities will go to to protect tourism. And if corruption exists...

How commonly traveled is that route? Going back to really study here.