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

[Stunned]

Maybe it was a carjack. She was thrown from a moving car. He was killed and dumped in the ocean. The car was driven into the ocean. It is all so confusing.

Or jumped from moving car. IMO

 

[MuddyTires]

Mount Vernon couple latest victims on dangerous roads in Dominican Republic

Cheryl Freeman, a tourist from Halifax, Novia Scotia, who was at the resort with her boyfriend, spent time with Moore and Ravenelle during their stay. She told CNN the couples shared a bottle of rum at a disco in Samana the evening of March 26 before Moore and Ravenelle left between 9:30 and 10 p.m. so they could pack up to leave.

Reporters and photographers for Listin Diario, a local newspaper, surveyed a 5-kilometer stretch of the highway on Wednesday. They found the immediate area where the crash was believed to have occurred was about 75 feet from the sea. But it was not surprising that a car could slide into the sea from that location as there was no retaining wall or safety railings.

For the three kilometers leading up to the accident site, the highway is much closer to the sea and there have been other accidents reported in that area, the newspaper reported.

State Department alerts for travel to the Dominican Republic focus on high levels of serious crime there. But the agency’s 2018 Crime & Safety Report for the country also advises travelers to refrain from driving unless they are familiar with the country’s roads.

“Travel at night on intercity highways and in rural areas can be highly dangerous and is not advised due to animals on the road, poor road conditions and vehicles being driven at either very slow or excessive speeds, often with malfunctioning headlights or taillights,” the report read.

In 2016, the Dominican Republic had an estimated 34.6 road deaths per 100,000 residents, according to the latest WHO report, more than double the worldwide median of 15.9. The United States had 12.4 road deaths per capita.

Dominican Republic Traffic Safety while traveling. - CountryReports

If you do drive in the Dominican Republic, you should be aware that the utmost caution and defensive driving are necessary. Traffic laws are similar to those in the United States, but undisciplined driving is common, due to a lack of adequate traffic controls. Many drivers will not use turn indicators. It is common for a vehicle operator to stick his hand out the window to signal a turn. Drivers can also be aggressive and erratic, often failing to yield the right-of-way even when road signs or signals indicate that they should. Turning right on red lights is permitted, but should be done with caution.

Travel at night on intercity highways and in rural areas should be avoided, due to animals on the road, poor road conditions, poor lane markers, missing manhole covers, large potholes, unmarked speed bumps, and other vehicles being driven at excessive speeds, often with malfunctioning headlights or taillights. Drivers should be aware that road hazards and closures are often indicated by piles of debris littered across the roadway, without any lettered signs or reflective surfaces to help call attention to the road condition. Often times, there is no indication of the road hazard whatsoever. Blackouts also increase the danger of night travel. Mudslides and bridge washouts can be a problem during and after heavy rains. The distances between reliable roadside services or major population centers can be considerable, which also increases the risk involved in driving after dark.

. . . .

Pedestrians tend to step out into traffic without regard to corners, crosswalks, or traffic signals. Many pedestrians die every year crossing the street (including major, multi-lane highways) at seemingly random locations. Pedestrians do not have the right-of-way, and walking along or crossing busy streets – even at intersections with traffic lights or traffic police present – can be very dangerous.

. . . ..

Motorcycles and motor scooters are common in the Dominican Republic, and they are often driven erratically. Dominican law requires that motorcyclists wear helmets, but local authorities rarely enforce this law. Motor vehicle authorities report that less than one percent of motorcyclists in the country are actually licensed. As noted previously, public transportation vehicles such as the route taxis (“carros publicos”) and urban buses (“guaguas”) are unsafe.

Gone too soon

Driving Danger in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is the Western hemisphere’s most dangerous place to drive, and 15th worst in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Each year, 29 out of every 100,000 people in this Caribbean nation die in road accidents, according to the 2015 Global Status Report on Road Safety.

Tragedies on Dominican roads are heartbreaking, but not surprising

Off the top of his head, Alou reels off a lengthy inventory of motor vehicle hazards in his homeland. He has seen trucks and motorcycles driving with no lights and vehicles parked in the middle of the road, in the dark, for no apparent reason. It's not uncommon for pedestrians to cross busy highways with livestock in tow or for motorists to take shortcuts the wrong way down one-way streets. The advent of drive-through bars several years ago was not a helpful development for the cause of public safety.

"People drive so bad here,"' Alou said by phone from his home in Santo Domingo. "The roads are dark in places where they're not supposed to be dark. You'll see vehicles with no brake lights. It's like an adventure, a challenge. You have to anticipate what the other guy is going to do and how he'll mess up.

And so off we went. Driving in other countries doesn't normally bother me. But almost instantly in the Dominican Republic, I was grasping the wheel, sweating. This is because the Dominicans are, as I quickly found out, absolutely horrible drivers.

......

But the longer we drive, the quicker my desire to look for a hispaniolan parrot gives way to pure, mad concentration. The Dominicans are driving on their mopeds and tiny little cars as if this is the last day of their lives.

One fellow is drinking a beer, and eating his lunch, while driving a moped through the thick traffic. When he's done with his lunch, he flings the styrofoam box into the jungle, ,rice and plastic silverware flying everywhere.

Another just drops his beer right there on the road.

So.....shared a bottle of rum the same night they were driving to the airport.....it was late at night and dark.....they weren't familiar with the roads or surroundings.......driving in the DR is apparently extraordinarily dangerous hazardous and they were on a particularly dangerous stretch of road.....not sure why it's hard to believe this was a car accident.

 

[Stunned]

From that same article

“Detectives spoke to fishermen who said they heard a loud noise coming from 19 kilometers (about 11.8 miles) away from the freeway of Las Americas, Santo Domingo Este early that morning, the National Police said.

The fishermen said they found a woman who was seriously injured and not carrying any identification, police said.

She was taken by ambulance to the hospital with severe trauma and contusions to the head, hospital spokesman Dario Mañon said.

Ravenelle died April 4, before she was in a condition in which hospital officials could take her photo and share it with the media, he said. Mañon told CNN that no family or friends had called the hospital looking for Ravenelle.

They need to talk to those fisherman, they heard the crash 12 miles away.

 

[Suglo]

So we have a high rate of speed and a downhill oceanbound car but at the last split second she manages to get out of the car. Wow. Okay. We have went from on the road to in the water to now at the last split second getting out. Four days in the hospital to eight with no idea by LE of any accident or investigation? I even know the difference between quatro and ocho dias, I do not see that getting lost in translation.

Let's see some video starting with the hotel, then the toll booth and anything else. I would also like to see their check-out time at the front desk. Thank goodness for those fishermen who apparently never talked to LE about a woman or seeing a car in the ocean until pressure came on about a missing couple? So they heard a crash up on the highway per an article, they found a woman on the highway and they saw a car in the ocean. Did they see the car come down the "slope"?

If this or I am incorrect then there is a real problem with providing actual facts.

And I will still stick with the fact that I do not believe it was unknown that there was a flight that left the country missing two tourists and that a rental car was not returned by a couple of which the woman called expressing her concerns that very day.

jmo. so far.

In this article the local news speaks to a Canadian couple that spent two days with them. The couple says that the resort is 100 miles from the airport. That fact worried Portia. But they also say that they went out that night to a Disco and didn’t return to the hotel until 9:30-10:00 pm. They said their good byes, exchanged emails and then Moore and Portia went up to their room to get their luggage and check out. At that point they had less than four hours until their flight and still had to get their bags, check out and drive 100 miles on dark, unknown roadways.

Las últimas horas de la pareja estadounidense reportada desaparecida en República Dominicana

Everything I’ve read says that she was found in the early hours of March 27th and died on April 4th. I can’t help but think that much of the confusion stems from faulty translations. I read CNN Español and a couple of other American Spanish news stories today which I could tell were translated by Google. A bilingual speaker would have caught the translation errors in those reports.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

If you watch the video clip above, NEWS4 did send a reporter to DR to interview people and there is a clip of local police showing what they say is damage to a tree and a path through vegetation, where they say the car went off the cliff

I just watched the video. It helped to put the scene together...but why do they keep referring to Portia as 'the body'. She was alive when they found her and hearing it referred to as the body makes it sound like she was found deceased.

 

[katsrfun]

Could be but I am not sure she would have stopped, they were warned not to by the car rental agency even. I also wonder because if they were running late for the airport I am not sure they would have stopped.

I have not rented a car in so darn long I can't remember, don't you just have to bring it back with the same or more to not be charged? I assume the way it sounded they filled up before leaving their motel.

I could be wrong and maybe they needed to stop, I am just speculating based on what was said.

If I remember correctly, last time we rented a car, you could either fill it up prior to return, or they would do it and charge you a certain amount per gallon. If I recall correctly, the price they were charging was less than the going price of gas at the time, hard to believe, but true. Maybe they were going to let the rental company fill it up, even if it was more expensive to do that, since they were running late. JMO. Katt

 

[Stunned]

We will probably never know what happened. IMO

 

[LadyL]

I, to, think it was an accident but I still want to know how it transpired.

 

[acutename]

Mount Vernon couple latest victims on dangerous roads in Dominican Republic







Dominican Republic Traffic Safety while traveling. - CountryReports



Gone too soon

Driving Danger in the Dominican Republic



Tragedies on Dominican roads are heartbreaking, but not surprising

So.....shared a bottle of rum the same night they were driving to the airport.....it was late at night and dark.....they weren't familiar with the roads or surroundings.......driving in the DR is apparently extraordinarily dangerous hazardous and they were on a particularly dangerous stretch of road.....not sure why it's hard to believe this was a car accident.

I wondered about animals..... you think because it is an interstate near the city, there would not be any, but maybe there are. Have seen deer and moose and read of cattle in even the most urban areas of the US getting on roads.

 

[human]

I live in a Third World country.

Lights on cars and scooters are a huge issue. People cannot afford to replace them so they drive as late into the evening as they can without lights. Cars usually have them on in the dark but scooters often are in the dark zooming without lights.

There are no wild animals here but there are lots of dogs and cats . And people riding bicycles or walking in the dark without any reflective markings.

Are there wild animals in DR?

And people here pass all of the time when they should not and they tailgate .

I imagine that it is not much different in the DR.

 

[jack storrow]

...and this is what makes this so heartbreakingly frustrating.
She was pro-active and planned ahead for these scenarios...so WTH happened?

Is there not any CCTV on any of those routes to catch them driving at all aside from the toll booth?

Did LE wait too long to check and its been erased? I guess I am so used to North American technology....

I am really starting to believe there is something big missing from this story.

JMO.

Your comment about North American technology is deaming, and has nothing to do with with knowing what happened. There are thousands of deadly roads in NA without CCTV, from which people frequently disappear and die. I would think twice before driving through Alligator Alley in the middle of the night, the Oak Ridge Mountains on Rt. 77 connecting to 81, or parts of the Pacific Coast Highway, much less, 100 miles of unknown roads in a foreign country. <modsnip - victim-blaming>

 

[jack storrow]

Unfortunately, they made a few bad decisions that lead to tragedy.
1. Departing on a flight at 1:30 in the morning.
2. Driving 100 miles in the middle of the night through unkown roads in a foreign country.
3. Not staying in the city the night before, and spend the last day in the city close to the airport.
4. Going partying the night of the trip.
5. Not give themselves time. It’s an international flight, so they should’ve been there 3 hours before at the airport, and they go partying?
6. Returning a rental car in the middle of the night, just before your flight (need gas, find your way around).
7. Not notifying the US embassy of their travel plans.

When traveling to foreign countries, and even in the US:
1. I would’ve driven the 100 mile trip in daylight.
2. Stay as close to the airport as needed to make sure I eliminate any potential incidents that can happen.
3. If options are available, I would’ve never taken a 1:30am international flight (the savings are never worth it).
4. If my flight was at 1:30am, I would’ve stayed in the city the night before, do a late check out, or pay for the extra day, and have piece of mind.
5. I would’ve returned the rental in daylight and taken a taxi to the airport.
6. If it’s a foreign country I’ve never visited, I’ll inform the embassy of my trip itinerary (they would’ve started the search right away).
7. If money is short, stay a night less and use the money to create a safe environment and have as backup.

Too many things could’ve gone wrong with their plans, and unfortunately, all you need is one for it to end tragically.

 

[Suglo]

I wondered about animals..... you think because it is an interstate near the city, there would not be any, but maybe there are. Have seen deer and moose and read of cattle in even the most urban areas of the US getting on roads.

I don’t think the road they took is like an actual US interstate or highway. Google maps says it takes 2 hours 19 minutes to drive the 100 miles (160 kilometers). That means an average of 45 miles per hour. I don’t understand how they thought that they could get to their flight on time when they were at their hotel packing around 10 pm.

Google Maps

 

[Vern]

RSBM for brevity

So.....shared a bottle of rum the same night they were driving to the airport.....it was late at night and dark.....they weren't familiar with the roads or surroundings.......driving in the DR is apparently extraordinarily dangerous hazardous and they were on a particularly dangerous stretch of road.....not sure why it's hard to believe this was a car accident.

Yep; that's been my theory and the reasons for it since about page 2 with the added 'rushing to make their flight'. Crazy isn't it? Tragic, but accidental.

 

[ilovechili]

At minimum:

This is a tourism country--they make many $$ from tourism.

PR matters and an incident of foreigners missing is never a good thing.

Both the airline and most likely the rental car company would have notified authorities when the flight was missed and the car not returned. You basically have a stolen vehicle and a missing American couple at this point. This is a BIG deal.

Now, since we have a rental car and the flight was out of this airport, LE knows this couple would have traveled to the airport as well as have known the route once checking which hotel they stayed at as well as a time frame.

Right on this highway on the correct day, a woman was found, a car was seen in the ocean and a crash was heard allegedly ON the road.

The rental car is seen at the toll booth and now one has a minimum area from the toll booth to the airport. In that area a woman was found, a car was seen in the ocean and a crash heard on the highway, on the correct date.

Yet family is told no accidents, no one in hospitals, etc.

Of course it seems like this all occurred and LE was never notified of a missed flight, a rental car missing, a woman on the road, an unidentified woman in the hospital from the very area one would look... Not told of "fishermen" hearing a crash, seeing a car in the ocean... Wow.

Days later though there are fishermen who they now talk to... After EIGHT days the woman dies. During that time they had family already inquiring...

Show me an article about the unidentified woman in the hospital, found on the roadway, etc. and show me one about the body washed up on shore on the 31st? From when they discovered them, where and about the fishermen finding a woman, seeing a car in the ocean, hearing a crash on Los Americos Highway, etc. A Dominican article from the dates of these discoveries.

I doubt there are any. It seems like pretty big news to me... Imo it is because they knew it was these American tourists and their car. It may not even be a cover up in the sense of something else happened but they are not going to publish that happened there if they do not have to--at minimum.

I am waiting for video of checkout and confirmation of check out time. I am also waiting for them to get their locations straight because thus far they are not. And much more. If this is not a criminal investigation, then there is no reason the facts cannot be shared.

What was the sound of the crash? What was hit? Who hit them?

I am sure it is even worse for the families and they deserve the questions answered.

All jmo.

 

[Vern]

Chief of Police: Slip-offs from the road very common along that stretch.

IMO, I'll go with the common sense rather than require 10 000 and 1 stars to misalign in order to make this anything except the totally preventable accident that I believe all facts and details to date show indicate. All, IMO of course.

 

[Vern]

Chief of Police: Slip-offs from the road very common along that stretch.

IMO, I'll go with the common sense rather than require 10 000 and 1 stars to misalign in order to make this anything except the totally preventable accident that I believe all facts and details provided by police, their Canuk friends and others in the media to date indicate as well as the commentary from the locals in the comments of SM about how bad that stretch is for driving and people going over embankments. All, IMO of course.

 

[?mysterian?]

Chief of Police: Slip-offs from the road very common along that stretch.

IMO, I'll go with the common sense rather than require 10 000 and 1 stars to misalign in order to make this anything except the totally preventable accident that I believe all facts and details to date show indicate. All, IMO of course.

They might be common, but would they be noisy? Seems like driving off the road into the ocean wouldn't make much noise, unless objects were struck before the vehicle entered the water. The fishermen reportedly heard something at 1:30 a.m. What did they hear? And where were they relative to the crash site?

ETA: for clarity: Driving off the road at that crash site. It didn't look on video/pictures to be too far down or sloped, which means less points of impact for a vehicle before it actually enters the water.

ETA2: link to photos Drinking and speeding may have contributed to couple's fatal car crash in the Dominican Republic | Daily Mail Online

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Your comment about North American technology is deaming, and has nothing to do with with knowing what happened. There are thousands of deadly roads in NA without CCTV, from which people frequently disappear and die. I would think twice before driving through Alligator Alley in the middle of the night, the Oak Ridge Mountains on Rt. 77 connecting to 81, or parts of the Pacific Coast Highway, much less, 100 miles of unknown roads in a foreign country. That’s just one of the many mistakes they made that lead to their tragic end.

Lol...I don't think I am dreaming....in this world of technology we live in.

I think that if there were cameras showing the time they checked out and documenting the areas they travelled (and what time it was) we could narrow down the theories of anything nefarious happening.

 

[Vern]

They might be common, but would they be noisy? Seems like driving off the road into the ocean wouldn't make much noise, unless objects were struck before the vehicle entered the water. The fishermen reportedly heard something at 1:30 a.m. What did they hear? And where were they relative to the crash site?

ETA: for clarity: Driving off the road at that crash site. It didn't look on video/pictures to be too far down or sloped, which means less points of impact for a vehicle before it actually enters the water.

Maybe noisy and maybe not. I guess that depends on where they slip-off at. Hit a tree on the way or not? It was also the middle of the night as we know they went through a toll at 0141hrs.

If a tree falls in the forest I am certain it makes a noise, but there may not be anyone there to hear it. Would we require a video to prove that theory? Even if it didn't hit a tree, it was a car entering the water - that's a fact proven by the fact the car was underwater in the ocean off the side of the highway, I can guarantee that made a heck of a splash and the inherent sounds that go with it. Did anybody hear? It happened none-the-less. Apparently perhaps the fishermen heard it which absolutely makes sense to me being that they are the ones who, when the stories started coming about he and her missing and knowing where along the road she was found with her injuries went over and found then reported the car submerged in the spot known as "The Blender". There's also been comments about the location of this accident changing and I wish someone would post the link to that source of information because the police, in everything I've seen linked, have stated along this highway at the blender. I haven't seen them change that. I've seen speculation in here about where exactly "The Blender" is located along there but that's people here speculating about where exactly is "The Blender" and not official sources. When I zoom in on google maps I can see 3 or 4 distinct possibilities for it's location all looking like they have an awesome tidal swirl associated with them.

Take a drive along the ocean when the winds are up and waves may be crashing so that the road gets slick. Also a force of nature and weather dependant (it doesn't need to be raining, just the tides moving and windy). I'll grab a video of such occurrence this summer from my cottage in Nova Scotia as I'm certain the weather god will cooperate and we'll have a windy day at high tide. Then, imagine driving through that unknown in the middle of the night, while being under pressure to make a flight on an unfamiliar, unlit road with alcohol in your system. I sometimes hate driving along part of our stretch in the broad daylight if wind/tide are cooperating to slicken the road near ours (which also lacks a barrier) and I've been familiar with the area my entire life and have been driving it for 36 years.