A frantic search is underway for a New York couple who took a vacation to the Caribbean, and suddenly vanished, with no sign of them for nearly two weeks.
Orlando Moore and his girlfriend, Portia Ravenelle, flew out of Newark Liberty International Airport on March 23 for a getaway in the Dominican Republic. They were supposed to return home to Mount Vernon on March 27.
Thirteen days later, their family hasn’t heard from them. Their phones are off. And their car is still parked at the airport.
Moore’s sister, Lashay Turner, said her first move was to reach out to the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Then she filed a police report.
Cops say the pair checked out of their hotel in Samana, but what happened to them next remains a mystery at this point. Officials say they didn’t make the flight back to Newark, and there’s no record of them getting back to the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection declined comment, saying privacy concerns preclude them from discussing individual cases of international travelers.
The U.S. Department of State said it was aware of the case and working with local authorities searching for the pair, but could not comment further.
“When a U.S. citizen is missing, we work closely with local authorities as they carry out their search efforts and share information with families however we can,” a U.S. Department of State official said in a statement. “The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State. We stand ready to provide appropriate assistance to U.S. citizens in need and to their families.”
Turner said her brother and Ravenelle had a rental car in the Dominican Republic, but that vehicle is missing. A picture believed to be the latest of them posted to social media before they vanished shows them riding horses together on their trip.
“We’ve been calling DR and they said they didn’t make their flight,” Turner said. “We also spoke to someone in U.S. Customs and they said my brother did not make his flight back here.”
Turner says her brother has a daughter — and he’s not the type to “just run off on a hiatus … he’s gonna let someone know where he is.”
“I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going on,” she added. “I’m saddened, my family is saddened by this and we just want me brother to return safe and alive.”
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Authorities aren’t speculating about what may have happened to the couple, but relatives are growing increasingly concerned.
“When these things happen, you always think of the worst, but we are hoping for the best,” Edith Walters, Moore’s grandmother, said.
Jesus have mercy hope they find them in good health and spirits this good my children or family. Lord we no safe in America Jamaica or no where in this today .
Oh lord!! So sad! Hope the family get closure
Makes it more worrisome when no ransom has been made. FBI will step in soon. Something happened at the hotel if they had returned there but the fact that the rental car is missing, could mean they never made it back after their excursion and someone at the hotel is on it. This is just so terrifying! 🙁
Second case of missing U.S. visitors. The surfer still missing for months now.
This is my childhood friend, we grew up together and he still remained close with my family especially my mother and sees her often. The stories of what may have happened is conflicting, the bodies are found. We, his family and friends are horrified. Orlando was such an amazing person, very genuine and always trying to help. May he sleep in peace.
So sorry to hear that, God bless.
I saw an update that they crash in the ocean and they found the guy body today and the girl was unconscious and in the hospital and die couple days after
I read about this on a Canadian site. They met a Canadian couple who they hung out with and went on some excursions together. The couple said the lady told them they had gotten a good fare on the ticket, but at the time of purchase they did not realize how far Santo Domingo was from Samana, and they had to drive 2-2.5hrs to get to the Santo Domingo airport. The rental car company had told them that they should not stop to pick up anyone or make any stops on the drive to the airport because the locals knew which cars were rentals, they warned them not to even drive with the window down. They also checked out of the hotel at night, so they were driving at night not knowing the place, in a country with a different language and depending on a GPS to guide them that may not even be up to date. I feel bad for them because the couple said they were very friendly ppl, especially the man was always jovial and could make friends with anyone. Apparently they had exchanged emails with the couple and they only found out they were missing when they returned home and opened their email and seeing emails from the family.
I am wondering why it took so long for this story to go public. The ppl have been missing for two weeks and we are just finding out. The DR is notorious for being unhelpful and even caring when anything happens to tourists in their country, so I doubt there is any real push to find these ppl down there. The families just need to stay vigilant and don’t ease up. Some of them need to get on the ground too. Even two of them need to take time off from work and show up and speak with the detectives working on the case, and go to the hotel and speak with the bartender who the guy became friends with.
They speculating that they may have found their bodies. Apparently it was a car crash, they drove off a cliff. The bodies have not been identified yet.
But he left Jamaica a good holiday destination and gone DR like what the fuck if he had come to Jamaica he would still be alive bad as thing maybe Jamaica wouldn’t have kill them
YOU IGNORANT BAD……………………..
INSENSITIVE DONT EVEN BEGIN TO DESCRIBE YOUR LOOSE COMMENT RIGHT NOW.
1.ITS OK FOR PPL TO TRAVEL AND EXPLORE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES/ ISLANDS OUTSIDE THEIR COUNTRY OF BIRTH.
2. WHAT IS SOOOOO WRONG WITH DR WHY THIS MAN SHOULD NOT HAVE VISITED?
3. HOW MUCH FACTS DO YOU ACTUALLY HAVE ON THIS CASE?
4. YOU ARE NOT SAFE ANYWHERE…. UNFORTUNATELY IN THIS CRUEL WORLD WE LIVE IN; ANY RANDOM ACT CAN GET COST YOU YOUR LIFE.
5. JAMAICA- MY COUNTRY OF BIRTH IS NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH SAFER THAN DR. YOU FEEL A MORE SENSE OF SECURITY IN JAMAICA BECAUSE YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE CULTURE, LANGUAGE ETC.
GAL YOU SAD AND IGNORANT BAD!!!!!!
Sadly, the family may never know what really happened. @12:33 what the Canadian couple said sheds some much needed light on their disappearance. I notice a lot of black people just look at a brochure or instagram pic and choose a destination for their next holiday, white people do it too but they are more likely to go the extra step of working out the logistics before they travel, and to take along a printed map of their destination and planned routes and making sure someone else has the details of their trip. It is so sad that a 4 days spur of the moment holiday has turned into a nightmare for two families. Condolences to their loved ones and May they RIP
SAMANA THOUGH…….
I AM ALL FOR TRAVELING AND EXPLORING THE WORLD BUT SOME PLACES JUST ARNT SAFE FOR TOURIST PERIOD…..
I ALWAYS RECOMMEND GETTING A CAR SERVICE:
PICK U UP FROM AIRPORT TO HOTEL VISA VERSE
TOUR THE ISLAND ETC.
ITS NEVER A GOOD IDEA TO DRIVE WHEN VISITING THESE SMALL ISLAND OR COUNTRY UNLESS YOUR WERE A NATIVE AND KNEW THE ROADS.
GPS OR NOT THE ROADS ARE JUST NOT CONDUCIVE.
SENDING PRAYERS TO THE FAMILY OF THESE 2 VICTIMS.
PPL PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO GO ON VACATION. I AM A FREQUENT TRAVELER AND THESE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS I ALWAYS RESEARCH B4 I SET OFF.
1. READ ABOUT THE COUNTRY U PLAN TO VISIT; INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL GUIDE IS VERY HELPFUL.
2. HOW FAR IS HOTEL FORM AIRPORT.
3. HOW FAR IS A LOCAL HOSPITAL.
4. WHAT VACCINATION NEEDED IF ANY.
5. READ THE LOCAL NEWS FOR THAT COUNTRY.
6. KNOW HOW TO CALL FOR HELP (POLICE ETC)
7. ALWAYS INFORM SOMEONE WHERE UR STAYING, WHO U TRAVELING WITH, HOW LONG YOU PLAN ON VISITING.
EXPLORE THIS BEAUTIFUL WORLD, BUT DO IT SAFELY!
The family really need to hire a private investigator so they can really get to the bottom of this tragedy. this Country is known to be Prejudice against darker skin people their Neighboring country Haiti is proof of That. Please take an extra step to investigate as this can be more than just them being lost etc. sorry for the loss… but please do additional research.
It was a car accident. There is no reason to go to all these depths. Sadly, they were driving in the night time in a place they are not familiar with, who knows if the gps didn’t lead them into the water. There have been so many instances of the gps leading people into water in Canada and the US so how is this any different. The only thing is it’s so sad that they had to be the ones that met this fate. There appears to be nothing suspicious here but just a simple wrong turn and ended up into the water.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. When I travel to countries where English is not the primary language I take no chances. I don’t even do night activities unless it is an event booked with a company. I never arrive or depart to an unknown country at night. I don’t drive so I always book transfers through a reputable company with good reviews on TripAdvisor. Even the best driver could miss something on an unknown road at night.
I really feel for this young couple. May their families and loved ones eventually find peace.
Today April 10 it came pon New York news day them crash in the sea tears for this family and couple.
A white surfer is still missing so the race card not going to do.
The satellite maping shows that the region they drove from is full of terrains just like Jamaica. One news article cited the girlfriend having reservations about driving to the airport 100 miles from the resort.
An accident in the wee hours of the morning is a high probability.
Rule #1, don’t rent cars when on vaca. U are not familiar with the roads. Book your hotel pickup and dropoff, and all tours. RIP to this couple. Hopefully it was no foul play.