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

[kaen]

Is it just me, or is it terribly odd that they find a gravely hurt woman on the roadside and appear to do no follow up on how she got there? There is a large boom sound. There is a woman on the side of the road. Did they do little because she looked like a local? Something is off about the level of investigation that occurred when she was found.

A family is looking for their loved one who seems to be gone without a trace. An unidentified woman is taken by ambulance (I assume the police were also involved) and no one makes the connection when inquiries are made. It is just off to me. It is all just odd.

I think the idea that there was alcohol involved, with a late departure to the airport, and on roads that are not like a US highway makes sense to me. The investigation feels odd to me.

 

[Hatfield]

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

Thank you. This is the best video I have seen from News4 that pinpoints the exact spot where the car supposedly hit a tree and went over the edge into the water. The local being interviewed even points to where the female was found.

There is a building in background and the highway can be seen.

So if we can find this spot on a map then we should have the exact location of the wreck.

Alcohol, Car Speed Factors in Couple's Caribbean Death: Cops

Thanks to everyone for all the good analysis and discussion on this case. Its been very confusing but we are slowly getting all the facts cleared up here on WS much better than anywhere else.

IMO its very possible the collision with one of those trees in the News4 video clip made her get ejected before going over the side which could explain how she ended up near the road there and he ended up with the car in the water before his body floated away some ways away. Or the car had rolled before going over the side which could also eject her. Or even the car could have gotten temporarily wedged between those trees for a few minutes and gave her time to climb out before it finally fell over the side.

 

[Hatfield]

Is it just me, or is it terribly odd that they find a gravely hurt woman on the roadside and appear to do no follow up on how she got there? There is a large boom sound. There is a woman on the side of the road. Did they do little because she looked like a local? Something is off about the level of investigation that occurred when she was found.

A family is looking for their loved one who seems to be gone without a trace. An unidentified woman is taken by ambulance (I assume the police were also involved) and no one makes the connection when inquiries are made. It is just off to me. It is all just odd.

I think the idea that there was alcohol involved, with a late departure to the airport, and on roads that are not like a US highway makes sense to me. The investigation feels odd to me.

Good points. At a minimum the level of investigation at the very beginning seems kind of weak of who the unknown terribly injured woman found and taken to hospital was.

The location of where she was found should have provided vital clues and more proactive investigation should have made a match to the missing couple. Airport right near where she was found, injured person and cliff nearby with possible tree damage, etc. Shouldnt have been too hard to make a few calls to the airport on who may have missed a flight.

 

[ilovechili]

"Hospital spokesman Dario Mañon said she arrived with severe trauma and contusions to the head. It was about 12 hours after the pair's missed flight had left for New York.

He said Ravenelle died on April 4, before she was in a condition in which hospital officials could take her photo and share it with the media.

Authorities asked Tuesday for a photo taken while she was in intensive care, he said."

Missing N.Y. Couple Likely Died After Car Plunged Into Ocean on Way to Dominican Republic Airport

So at about 1;30 in the afternoon she arrived at the hospital? 12 HOURS? I don't think then the articles about the fishermen finding her at the roadway and making it sound as though it was at the time of hearing the crash can be correct... Wow that is a lot of hours....

I think either media and/or the witnesses and/or the country better get their facts straightened out and clarified.

imo.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Thank you. This is the best video I have seen from News4 that pinpoints the exact spot where the car supposedly hit a tree and went over the edge into the water. The local being interviewed even points to where the female was found.

There is a building in background and the highway can be seen.

So if we can find this spot on a map then we should have the exact location of the wreck.

Alcohol, Car Speed Factors in Couple's Caribbean Death: Cops

Thanks to everyone for all the good analysis and discussion on this case. Its been very confusing but we are slowly getting all the facts cleared up here on WS much better than anywhere else.

IMO its very possible the collision with one of those trees in the News4 video clip made her get ejected before going over the side which could explain how she ended up near the road there and he ended up with the car in the water before his body floated away some ways away. Or the car had rolled before going over the side which could also eject her. Or even the car could have gotten temporarily wedged between those trees for a few minutes and gave her time to climb out before it finally fell over the side.

Great post!
I think you may have nailed it with your last sentence especially.
I too appreciate all the great analysis and discussion on this thread. Lots of people dedicated to distinguishing fact from fiction and figuring out what has been 'lost in translation.'
Hoping their families get all the answers that cross the 't's and dot the 'i's.

 

[Suglo]

"Hospital spokesman Dario Mañon said she arrived with severe trauma and contusions to the head. It was about 12 hours after the pair's missed flight had left for New York.

He said Ravenelle died on April 4, before she was in a condition in which hospital officials could take her photo and share it with the media.

Authorities asked Tuesday for a photo taken while she was in intensive care, he said."

Missing N.Y. Couple Likely Died After Car Plunged Into Ocean on Way to Dominican Republic Airport

So at about 1;30 in the afternoon she arrived at the hospital? 12 HOURS? I don't think then the articles about the fishermen finding her at the roadway and making it sound as though it was at the time of hearing the crash can be correct... Wow that is a lot of hours....

I think either media and/or the witnesses and/or the country better get their facts straightened out and clarified.

imo.

Lost in translation again. How would the fisherman find her when they are on a boat in the ocean? I’m going to speculate that she was found the next morning by someone walking or driving along that area of the road. My bet is that they only related the fisherman story with the woman being found story shortly before the police announced it. Otherwise there would have been an investigation earlier and her family would have been advised that she was in the ICU. This was one tragedy after another. Hopefully their LE will give a detailed timeline of who found her, where the fisherman were, what they saw/heard and why the hospital didn’t think to advise the police that they had a potential Jane Doe in their ICU earlier. This last part just gets to me because her family could and should have been at her side that whole week.

 

[kaen]

Fisherman might have been on the cliffs fishing or going out on the reefs to catch. I am not sure I heard they were on a boat but there are way too many articles with varying information to keep up.

 

[cybervampira]

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

Dominican Republic police say a combination of alcohol, speeding and dark roads may have led to the deaths of a couple from New York.

Orlando Moore, 41, and Portia Ravenelle, 52, were believed by authorities to be en route to the airport to return from their vacation when Moore may have lost control and crashed into the Caribbean Sea, according to NBC 4 New York.

The couple had been running late which may have caused Moore to speed along a dark stretch of road before the alleged accident. Moore was also seen drinking before the pair departed.

Dominican Republic National Police Col. Frank Felix Duran Mejia said the pair were last seen in footage at a toll near the airport.

[...]

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Erm, I'm very late to the case so sorry if this has been resolved but what the heck happened to the car? It's completely mangled! Is that just from being crashed about in the sea?

 

[kaen]

Erm, I'm very late to the case so sorry if this has been resolved but what the heck happened to the car? It's completely mangled! Is that just from being crashed about in the sea?

The current smashes into the sides of the cliff at a constant rate. Just looking at the white water in the photos that cybervampira posted, it makes sense to me that the vehicle was in this condition when it was raised.

 

[Hatfield]

Erm, I'm very late to the case so sorry if this has been resolved but what the heck happened to the car? It's completely mangled! Is that just from being crashed about in the sea?

Thats been one of the mysteries and there are 3 things that could help explain it.

*The waves could have kept smashing the car back up against the rocks over and over again.

*On the News4 video there is a huge boulder at bottom of cliff. If car impacted that boulder at bottom, it could do a lot of damage.

*If car hit one of the trees shown on same News4 footage, then the trees could have sheered the top roof of the car off before it went over side.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

Thanks guys, I need to catch up properly!

But also, where was his body found, I thought he was in the sea miles away but this article says he was in the car?

A body thought to be Moore's was found in the Caribbean Sea on March 31 inside of the vehicle Dominican officials believe was the car they had rented. That body has yet to be identified because of its condition, officials have said.

Alcohol, Car Speed Factors in Couple's Caribbean Death: Cops

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Thanks guys, I need to catch up properly!

But also, where was his body found, I thought he was in the sea miles away but this article says he was in the car?

A body thought to be Moore's was found in the Caribbean Sea on March 31 inside of the vehicle Dominican officials believe was the car they had rented. That body has yet to be identified because of its condition, officials have said.

Alcohol, Car Speed Factors in Couple's Caribbean Death: Cops

There are a number of conflicting statements written depending on which article you read. I think his body floated out of the car (roof possibly shorn off on impact in the water) and washed up on shore a number of miles away.

It was not found in the car.

 

[ilovechili]

Lost in translation again. How would the fisherman find her when they are on a boat in the ocean? I’m going to speculate that she was found the next morning by someone walking or driving along that area of the road. My bet is that they only related the fisherman story with the woman being found story shortly before the police announced it. Otherwise there would have been an investigation earlier and her family would have been advised that she was in the ICU. This was one tragedy after another. Hopefully their LE will give a detailed timeline of who found her, where the fisherman were, what they saw/heard and why the hospital didn’t think to advise the police that they had a potential Jane Doe in their ICU earlier. This last part just gets to me because her family could and should have been at her side that whole week.

Well there sure is a lot put down to lost in translation is all I can say. Four days, eight days. 12 hours now. And so much more.

I totally agree the part where her family could have been with her is heartbreaking. Eight days to figure it out and found in an area where the reported missing couple would have been driving... That is almost beyond my understanding...

This may truly be a one vehicle accident (or it may not) but what they have done with the facts, or lack of them, or lack of explanation and adding in the continually confusing media reports have raised and caused a ton of very legitimate questions.

Like you say, a detailed timeline of who, what, where, when. Pictures, a map. Any video available from toll booth, motel, etc. and everything else.

She made it eight days. EIGHT days.

 

[Vern]

I think there is lots that is being lost in translation as well. Some of the video says, ":Fishermen found her body here" when fisherman actually found the car. And, even if fishermen found her, it certainly wasn't "her body" as she didn't pass away from her injuries (thought to be from a hit and run originally)until 4 April.

There are a number of conflicting statements written depending on which article you read. I think his body floated out of the car (roof possibly shorn off on impact in the water) and washed up on shore a number of miles away.

It was not found in the car.

 

[ilovechili]

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

Dominican Republic police say a combination of alcohol, speeding and dark roads may have led to the deaths of a couple from New York.

Orlando Moore, 41, and Portia Ravenelle, 52, were believed by authorities to be en route to the airport to return from their vacation when Moore may have lost control and crashed into the Caribbean Sea, according to NBC 4 New York.

The couple had been running late which may have caused Moore to speed along a dark stretch of road before the alleged accident. Moore was also seen drinking before the pair departed.

Dominican Republic National Police Col. Frank Felix Duran Mejia said the pair were last seen in footage at a toll near the airport.

[...]

View attachment 179412View attachment 179413View attachment 179414View attachment 179415

Wow, these photos.

The first one, what is in front of the two men? I can't tell.

Also, I wonder where that photo was taken from, is someone standing on another rock perhaps? Seems a little iffy for a boat but hard to say...

 

[?mysterian?]

Well there sure is a lot put down to lost in translation is all I can say. Four days, eight days. 12 hours now. And so much more.

I totally agree the part where her family could have been with her is heartbreaking. Eight days to figure it out and found in an area where the reported missing couple would have been driving... That is almost beyond my understanding...

This may truly be a one vehicle accident (or it may not) but what they have done with the facts, or lack of them, or lack of explanation and adding in the continually confusing media reports have raised and caused a ton of very legitimate questions.

Like you say, a detailed timeline of who, what, where, when. Pictures, a map. Any video available from toll booth, motel, etc. and everything else.

She made it eight days. EIGHT days.

Dang, ilc, that's just what I've been thinking. There's been a lack of basic, concrete, documented information with this case.

How awful it is that there were people searching for them as she was still alive, alone, in the hospital. IMO. After lying injured on the side of the road for 12 hrs., according to reports.

 

[osu]

Thank you. This is the best video I have seen from News4 that pinpoints the exact spot where the car supposedly hit a tree and went over the edge into the water. The local being interviewed even points to where the female was found.

There is a building in background and the highway can be seen.

So if we can find this spot on a map then we should have the exact location of the wreck.

Alcohol, Car Speed Factors in Couple's Caribbean Death: Cops

Thanks to everyone for all the good analysis and discussion on this case. Its been very confusing but we are slowly getting all the facts cleared up here on WS much better than anywhere else.

IMO its very possible the collision with one of those trees in the News4 video clip made her get ejected before going over the side which could explain how she ended up near the road there and he ended up with the car in the water before his body floated away some ways away. Or the car had rolled before going over the side which could also eject her. Or even the car could have gotten temporarily wedged between those trees for a few minutes and gave her time to climb out before it finally fell over the side.

The building across the street from the crash site in the video is a home goods store called Janam Muebles.

Here it is shown on a map and a few Google Earth images of the sea across the street.

On the map, it shows the store is located West of Highway 7.

Address:
Janam Muebles
Marginal Las America’s
Oeste 4
Santo Domingo Este

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Well there sure is a lot put down to lost in translation is all I can say. Four days, eight days. 12 hours now. And so much more.

I totally agree the part where her family could have been with her is heartbreaking. Eight days to figure it out and found in an area where the reported missing couple would have been driving... That is almost beyond my understanding...

This may truly be a one vehicle accident (or it may not) but what they have done with the facts, or lack of them, or lack of explanation and adding in the continually confusing media reports have raised and caused a ton of very legitimate questions.

Like you say, a detailed timeline of who, what, where, when. Pictures, a map. Any video available from toll booth, motel, etc. and everything else.

She made it eight days. EIGHT days.

The eight days is unimaginable.

In one of the articles linked above ( I think it was the one with the headline about alcohol, speeding etc. being a factor in the accident) his friend of 25 years was in DR searching for her while she was alive in the hospital.

She actually found out she had been located on her way back to the airport to go home (days after after Portia had died. ) She mentions that she could have been holding her hand...
So terribly sad.
Edited to link up article.
Drinking and speeding may have contributed to couple's fatal car crash in the Dominican Republic | Daily Mail Online

 

[ilovechili]

Dang, ilc, that's just what I've been thinking. There's been a lack of basic, concrete, documented information with this case.

How awful it is that there were people searching for them as she was still alive, alone, in the hospital. IMO. After lying injured on the side of the road for 12 hrs., according to reports.

BBM.

A big lack and there still is all of these days later. I totally agree.

Yep, and right where a missing couple traveled on the same date.

As far as translation, I can believe that to a point, definitely not with all of it however.

In addition to grief and heartbreak, these families have to be so frustrated with this. It is nothing but a mess of both unconfirmed and thus far undocumented "facts" and constantly changing and conflicting stories in the media.