American tourists, Orlando Moore, 43, and Portia Ravenelle, 32, were set to return to their Mount Vernon, New York, home on March 27, at the end of a vacation in the Dominican Republic, but the couple never made it to the airport after checking out of their hotel.
The couple was reported missing after they vanished more than 2 weeks ago after checking out of their hotel room after a 4-day getaway to the northern beach area of Samana.
The couple’s families have not heard from them for over 13 days. Their phones are off, their car is still parked at Newark International Airport, and authorities said there is no record of them entering the US. Family members have filed a police report.
Moore’s brother, Lashay Turner, said they had a rental car during their time in the Dominican Republic, but there is no sign of the vehicle. “We’ve been calling DR and they said they didn’t make their flight,” he said. “We also spoke to someone in US Customs, and they said my brother did not make his flight back here.”
“I’m scared. I don’t know what’s going on,” Turner said. “I’m saddened, my family is saddened by this and we just want my brother to return safe and alive.”
It is unclear which airport the pair were due to fly home from and how far it was from their hotel. There is an airport in Samana that offers mostly seasonal flights to the island, mainly from Europe. The next closest airport in the area is the Cibao International Airport in Santiago, which offers daily flights to and from the US.
The State Department’s travel advisory issued on February 12, 2019 for the Dominican Republic advised tourists to exercise increased caution due to crime.
A picture believed to be the latest of the pair posted to social media shows them riding horses together.