Police investigators now suspect a fatal traffic accident could be the explanation for the vanishing of US tourists Orlando Moore and Portia Ravenelle. The couple had vacationed in Samaná from 23-27 March 2019.
Investigators are seeking to confirm whether a woman who had been found unconscious on the Las Americas Expressway on Wednesday, 27 March 2019 could have been the missing Portia Ravenelle. The corpse of a man with a tattoo is now thought to be Orlando Moore would be rescued by the authorities on Saturday, 30 March near Sans Souci, Santo Domingo East, in advanced state of decomposition, some 21 km east of where a vehicle is still down in the sea. Investigators await the results of the autopsies by the National Forensic Sciences Institute (Inacif).
What is known is that the couple had checked out of their hotel in Samaná and had driven south to the Las Americas International Airport and had crossed through the Marbella toll booth on 27 March 2019 in their rented white Kia Rio license plate A799107, presumably on their way to take the flight back to Newark. They crossed the toll at 1:41am, while their flight was scheduled for 1:30am that day. The tollbooth is about 6 km to the airport. The Police investigators suspect the couple was rushed to get to the airport. Surveillance cameras confirmed the vehicle was not seen at the airport.
The Police said that fishermen living in the area told them that on around that time they had heard a crash around Km 19 of the Las Americas Expressway. They then found an unconscious woman with multiple serious injuries. When the woman was later taken by ambulance to the Dario Contreras Trauma Hospital she was admitted without identification. She was there unconscious for six days in intensive care and died on Thursday, 4 April 2019.
The fishermen said they saw a car in the bottom of the sea, but the seas are rough at that point known as “La Batidora” and the rental car has not been recovered. Apparently, the body of the man had drifted east to where it was found near Sans Souci.
The Police said that Moore had several arrests in the United States for driving under the influence of alcohol.
The case was known in the Dominican Republic after NBCNew York broke the story when relatives told the TV journalists that their relatives had not returned.
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NBC New York
Policia Nacional
El Dia
Listin Diario
10 April 2019