Canadian Couple recall final hours with New York Couple gone missing in Dominican Republic

Canadian tourists are speaking out about the final hours of the New York couple who went missing in the Dominican Republic  (D.R.) last month.

Canadian tourists are speaking out about the final hours of the New York couple who went missing in the Dominican Republic  (D.R.) last month.

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Canadian tourists are speaking out about the final hours of the New York couple who went missing in the Dominican Republic  (D.R.) last month.

As TheGrio previously reported, on March 23, Orlando Moore and his girlfriend, Portia Ravenelle flew to the Caribbean out of Newark Liberty International Airport for a romantic getaway in D.R. and were supposed to return on March 27th, NBC reports.

Their families are beyond worried as there has been no communication with the couple since and their car is still parked at the airport. New details have emerged about their activities a day before they were scheduled to leave the island.

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The couple reportedly enjoyed several excursions with two fellow travelers, Canadian couple Cheryl Freeman and Carter Warrington, who may have been the last people to see Moore and Ravenelle. Freeman and Warrington recounted their encounter with the couple in an interview with CNN.

“They were very sweet people,” Freeman, of Halifax, Nova Scotia, told the outlet. “Orlando is so friendly he could make friends with anyone.”

Both couples stayed at the Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa resort, where they first met on March 25. During breakfast, the foursome quickly bonded and exchanged emails so they could meet up the next day. The following day, they spent time by the pool enjoying cocktails and but once the festivities were disrupted by rain, they separated and agreed to meet up again later in the day to go see a waterfall.

The action reportedly resumed with a horseback riding session up a mountain and down to a breathtaking waterfall. Freeman claims that while they all had a joyous time, she noticed that Revenelle seemed to be nervous about their flight home.

Later that night at a nightclub, Ravenelle expressed even more concerns about driving at night, as she and her husband were warned by the rental car company not to stop or open the windows for locals who might try to mug them.

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The couple was scheduled to depart on 2 a.m. flight out of Santo Domingo, located 100 miles from their resort. Ravenelle made clear her fears about driving to the airport at night.

Locals “harass you constantly and there were always people trying to get you to follow them and do stuff,” Freeman told CNN. “I would not recommend it.”

Once the couples returned to the resort around 10 p.m., they said goodbye and promised to keep in touch.

“They invited us to come see them in New York and we invited them to Nova Scotia for later in summer,” Freeman said.

But on March 31, when Freeman began receiving emails from Ravenelle’s family, she realized the couple never returned home.

Authorities won’t speculate about what happened as families grow increasingly concerned and seek answers.

 

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