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

[bradfordsleuth]

I've been thinking about how that vehicle looked as they brought it out of the ocean and the photo after they brought it onto the wrecker, linked upthread. If the car had rolled prior to entering the ocean, there most likely would be some sort of debris trail left on the ground, IMO. If the car entered the ocean more or less intact, that must be a terribly strong current (linked reports upthread had locals calling this area "the blender") to only have what we saw photos/video of remaining. If the current bashed that vehicle into such disintegration, those parts/components must be fairly lightweight and not very sturdy, so they would most likely wash up on a beach nearby possibly. Surely something other than a body washed ashore from this wreck. IMO.

Excellent point!
I hope that LE is keeping an eye close to where Orlando's body washed up.

 

[Dee10]

DR1 Daily News - Monday, 15 April 2019

"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."

Like everyone I'm sure, I want to know if any suitcases, ID or if anything of value is found identifiable in the wreckage
.

 

[lonetraveler]

I'm still uncertain. That interview with the Canuks makes it seem like they had only realized that last day, when they visited the waterfall prior to sharing the bottle of rum, how far the airport actually was to travel to. Doesn't seem like they'd already driven it from the airport to the hotel.

Well, they may not have driven it but they had to have ridden it or they could not have gotten from the airport to the resort, right? Only way they didn't know how far is if they changed airports to another one.

 

[ilovechili]

If there was a crash, where is the other vehicle?

One time when we were in Puerto Rica, we met some people who had a hilarious story of their rental car GPS telling them they had arrived at their luxury hotel.

They were in an area of burned oit hulks of cars.

Perhaps their GPS was not that good. Maybe they entered the wrong data.

Maybe the language was a barrier in entering data and reading road signs

Interesting since this car here looks like a burned out shell but a cell phone survived, intact no less, it never even came apart.

Maybe they lucked out and the criminals were at lunch or having a siesta. when they reached that area of burned out cars. This is meant to be funny--to a point but it is not... Really a whole area of burned out cars that they drove into? I would say they were very fortunate and lucky friends. Bring your new one here, if we are ever questioned, we will take a burned out hull and dump it to be found and say it was your car. Wow, never heard of lots with burned out hulls. A junkyard yes. Burned out cars? No. Cars catching fire are actually very rare.

Actually, that GPS experience makes me really wonder. They did not end up at a house, a store or in the middle of nowhere but at a lot of burned out shells?

Yep, my mind is working overtime. That certainly does not allay GPS concerns, it shows me the opposite...

And yet a cell phone survived, is still black and intact with a few dents. Amazing.

Just sayin'. The answers are far from satisfactory thus far. I have a feeling they never will be.

 

[?mysterian?]

Excellent point!
I hope that LE is keeping an eye close to where Orlando's body washed up.

Or between point where vehicle entered the ocean and where his body was found. Maybe those busted-up car parts and debris didn't float as far.

 

[?mysterian?]

Interesting since this car here looks like a burned out shell but a cell phone survived, intact no less, it never even came apart.

Maybe they lucked out and the criminals were at lunch or having a siesta. when they reached that area of burned out cars. This is meant to be funny--to a point but it is not... Really a whole area of burned out cars that they drove into? I would say they were very fortunate and lucky friends. Bring your new one here, if we are ever questioned, we will take a burned out hull and dump it to be found and say it was your car. Wow, never heard of lots with burned out hulls. A junkyard yes. Burned out cars? No. Cars catching fire are actually very rare.

Actually, that GPS experience makes me really wonder. They did not end up at a house, a store or in the middle of nowhere but at a lot of burned out shells?

Yep, my mind is working overtime. That certainly does not allay GPS concerns, it shows me the opposite...

And yet a cell phone survived, is still black and intact with a few dents. Amazing.

Just sayin'. The answers are far from satisfactory thus far. I have a feeling they never will be.

Are you talking about the cell phone pictured here? Police in the Dominican Republic recover used car by missing tourist couple | tellerreport.com. Scroll down to see images of cell phone reportedly found.

ETA: the linked report above states the cell phone is an iPhone.

 

[ilovechili]

I've been thinking about how that vehicle looked as they brought it out of the ocean and the photo after they brought it onto the wrecker, linked upthread. If the car had rolled prior to entering the ocean, there most likely would be some sort of debris trail left on the ground, IMO. If the car entered the ocean more or less intact, that must be a terribly strong current (linked reports upthread had locals calling this area "the blender") to only have what we saw photos/video of remaining. If the current bashed that vehicle into such disintegration, those parts/components must be fairly lightweight and not very sturdy, so they would most likely wash up on a beach nearby possibly. Surely something other than a body washed ashore from this wreck. IMO.

ETA: The tires and wheels being gone make me wonder if the lug nuts are gone.

ETA2: I went back and looked at the photo/article bradfordsleuth linked yesterday, and no tires/wheels are even attached to the vehicle in the front, or the engine either, from what I can see, if I looked at the wreckage correctly. Couldn't see rear tires/wheels in photo. It really looks like vehicle was dismantled before retrieval.

I agree. It is absolutely amazing. But at least the cell phone survived intact, black, a few dents, the type identifiable. It is also awesome the serial number on the car somewhere was intact. Who could guess? Identifiable serial number on the car, identifiable cell phone. The car itself pretty hard to tell. The people unrecognizable. But the cell phone even way longer afterwards pulled out of the blender? Identifiable. The serial number of the car too. Amazing and thank goodness.

What kind of cell phone was it again? Because I want one. Indestructible even by The Blender and weeks on end apparently. Who had any idea a cell phone was more indestructible than a car? I know more than a few of us people who could use an indestructible phone like that.

Of course, of note, it has not been stated where it was found nor how. So that of course could change...

 

[wary]

Phone could have been thrown out of the open door and ended up in vegetation at the side of the road.

 

[lonetraveler]

Interestingly enough, we were looking that up at our house last night and had a very difficult time finding results. Based on what we could find, we decided it was likely on the left especially if a rental for an American tourist--and we also know they drive on the right side of the road it appears. Do not take my word for it though, it was just the likely conclusion we reached. Just like you, we had a difficult time finding results on those questions.

I also could not find a concrete answer. This article infers that the steering wheel is on the right side. When I lived in Jamaica, the car provided had a right-hand steering wheel.

 

[ilovechili]

Are you talking about the cell phone pictured here? Police in the Dominican Republic recover used car by missing tourist couple | tellerreport.com. Scroll down to see images of cell phone reportedly found.

Yes. Dents on the back side, some shattered intact glass for the most part on the front. Otherwise intact. I have not seen the type identifiable in a photo but have read that it was. Just like I have not seen the serial number photographed in any video when the car was brought up but we have been told it was identifiable.

 

[lonetraveler]

I agree. It is absolutely amazing. But at least the cell phone survived intact, black, a few dents, the type identifiable. It is also awesome the serial number on the car somewhere was intact. Who could guess? Identifiable serial number on the car, identifiable cell phone. The car itself pretty hard to tell. The people unrecognizable. But the cell phone even way longer afterwards pulled out of the blender? Identifiable. The serial number of the car too. Amazing and thank goodness.

What kind of cell phone was it again? Because I want one. Indestructible even by The Blender and weeks on end apparently. Who had any idea a cell phone was more indestructible than a car? I know more than a few of us people who could use an indestructible phone like that.

Of course, of note, it has not been stated where it was found nor how. So that of course could change...

Yep, truly amazing about the cell phone. I'll put my name in the hat for one.

 

[ilovechili]

Phone could have been thrown out of the open door and ended up in vegetation at the side of the road.

Okay but then like everything else maybe they should say that instead of having it tied into articles about the car retrieval weeks afterwards as if found that day and with the car. Perhaps document a few things?

Maybe it has all been media in which case they should be held accountable to some standards and it has gone too far.

What a mess--I feel for the families. I would hope they are being provided some far more satisfying answers than we have.

 

[?mysterian?]

Yes. Dents on the back side, some shattered intact glass for the most part on the front. Otherwise intact. I have not seen the type identifiable in a photo but have read that it was. Just like I have not seen the serial number photographed in any video when the car was brought up but we have been told it was identifiable.

Ok, thanks. I thought so, but wanted to be sure.

 

[lonetraveler]

If you watch video 2 in spoiler, the woman was ejected after a rollover, she didn’t hit anything (police were bumping her a little, but her speed and the rollover caused her being ejected after she lost control of the car). I can find many other rollover ejections w/o impact. It‘s physics, centrifugal force.

As regards reports she made it out of the water, I am pretty sure this is lost in translation. Being a German and reading English articles translated from German sources, I can tell you these are often horrible.

I would interpret a roll over as a form of impact whereas a passenger could be ejected. That said, nothing that I have read so far indicates that a rollover occurred.

 

[lonetraveler]

Police in Dominican Republic recover car used by couple who went missing

View attachment 179345

[...]

Upholstery, cables and other debris appear to dangle from the car as it was pulled from the sea. Locals describe that zone as "la batidora" -- the blender -- because of the rough seas normally found in the area.

Duran Mejia said a black iPhone was also recovered. It's unclear where the phone was found in relation to the car.

[...]

That phone is really messed up. Maybe the phone was still inside of the car.

 

[osu]

Here’s the clearest photo of the car that I’ve seen so far.
Deadly mix of booze, speed and dark road may have led to fatal crash that killed NY tourists in Dominican Republic

 

[Micmecca]

So the news eyewitness saw the aftermath of the crash, saw the body in the water and pointed the corpse out to the police. But the body didn't float to shore till 4 days later. 17 miles always. Portia's body is discovered but it isn't linked to the accident and she's taken to an hospital. All of this is going on but investigators don't connect the dots till a week later.

 

[bradfordsleuth]

Here’s the clearest photo of the car that I’ve seen so far.
Deadly mix of booze, speed and dark road may have led to fatal crash that killed NY tourists in Dominican Republic

Wow. That is a clear pic! Unreal that so much of it is missing.

 

[ilovechili]

Here’s the clearest photo of the car that I’ve seen so far.
Deadly mix of booze, speed and dark road may have led to fatal crash that killed NY tourists in Dominican Republic

That is as clear of a photo as I have seen. Where was the serial number found?

 

[Stunned]

I have to say that was my first reaction too. A burned out shell. No tires, etc. I wonder how many other things besides his body have washed up or been found other than a phone? Just sayin'... There has to be metal, car parts, luggage, purse, small parts, big parts, tires...

The phone stood out to me. In that surf???? Nah! IMO