The ingenuity and brevity of a native fisherman Alison de los Santos made possible that the wreckage of a small car sunken in the Caribbean Sea off Km 19 Las Americas Expressway be lifted to land by crane. The vehicle is suspected to be the rented Kia Rio that two US tourists from Mount Vernon, New York had rented for their vacation here.
Tourists 41-year old Orlando Moore and 52-year old Portia Ravenelle had vacationed in Samaná from 23 to 27 March 2019. They had set out to return on the Samaná-Santo Domingo toll road that leads to the Las Americas International Airport, just 6 km east. They left late from Samaná that is about a two-hour drive from the airport.
Investigations showed that the last time they were seen was when they crossed the Marbella tollbooth at 1:41am on 27 March. This is the last tollbooth of the north-south road that connects to the eastern Las Americas Expressway that would take them to the airport, some 6 km away. They had scheduled to take a 1:30am Spirit flight to Newark International Airport.
The Police now believe that alcohol and fast driving may have led to the crash and the unexpected plunge into the sea. Tourists friends of Moore said he had been drinking before leaving for the drive to the Santo Domingo airport.
The Police suspect Moore, in his rush to make the flight, could have made a wrong turn prior to driving into the sea. The Police suspect that Ravenelle, who was in the passenger seat, was able to get out of the car as it slid on the rocks before the actual plunge into the sea off the highway.
Local investigators began a search after NBC New York said they were missing in the Dominican Republic. It is now known that an unnamed woman interned at the Dario Contreras Trauma Hospital on 27 March was Ravenelle, who would die on 4 April from her injuries. The corpse of Moore was recovered on 31 March at Sans Souci, where apparently it had drifted west. The corpse was identified by Moore’s brother by a tattoo on his arm.
The recovered vehicle was taken to the Criminal Investigations Agency (Dicrim) of the Police for examination by forensic investigators. The National Police is assisted by FBI agents in drafting a possible scenario of what could have happened leading to the tragic ending of the vacation week.
Follow the story:
NBC New York
Listin Diario
NBC New York
USA Today
NBC New York
NY Post
Global News
15 April 2019