A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East How travelers spent their day before they went missing Cheryl Freeman and her boyfriend Carter Warrington, visited Samana from Nova Scotia. Cheryl gave me a detailed account of the day they spent together in the last hours before Orlando Freeman and Portia Ravenelle disappeared. She explained their two days together and shared the attached photos of them at a waterfall in El Limon Tuesday, March 26. The couples met at the all-inclusive resort Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa where they were both staying. Lashay Turner, Moore's half sister identified Moore and Ravenelle to me in the photos. (CNN) — Cheryl Freeman shared just a day of vacation bliss in the Dominican Republic with Orlando Moore and Portia Ravenelle. But her memories could help determine the whereabouts of the missing couple. Moore and Ravenelle were supposed to return to New York from the Dominican Republic on March 27, Moore’s half-sister said. But Moore’s family has not heard from him since he left for the Dominican Republican on March 23 from Newark Liberty International Airport, Lashay Turner said. The couple left a car at the airport. Cheryl Freeman Portia Ravenelle, left, went sightseeing with Canadians Carter Warrington, center, and Cheryl Freeman, right. Police on the island have not publicly confirmed the identities of the missing couple. Manuel Mateo, the captain of the Dominican Republic’s National Police, said the agency is investigating the disappearance of a couple from New York. Investigators are meeting Monday night to gather details to release to the public, National Police spokesman Col. Frank Felix Durán Mejia told CNN. It is not clear when the information will be released. In the meantime, Freeman and her boyfriend are believed to be among the last people who spent time with the couple on their final day in Samana, a resort town about 2.5 hours from the capital of Santo Domingo. Freeman fondly remembers the couple, whom she had hoped to keep in touch with after she returned to Canada. “They were very sweet people,” said Freeman, an accountant in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “Orlando is so friendly he could make friends with anyone.” This is Freeman’s account of the time she spent with the missing couple. Cheryl Freeman Carter Warrington, left, met Orlando Moore at the resort where they were both staying. A chance encounter on a cart ride Freeman and her boyfriend Carter Warrington stayed at the same all-inclusive resort as Moore and Ravenelle, the Grand Bahia Principe Cayacoa. On the morning of March 25, the two couples met on a cart ride from their villas to the breakfast buffet, Freeman said. Immediately, the couple was friendly and invited Freeman and Warrington to eat breakfast with them. After breakfast, the couple parted ways and exchanged emails so they could meet up the next day, Tuesday, March 26. Horseback riding and waterfalls After breakfast Tuesday, the foursome sat by the pool, drinking piña coladas until it started to rain, Freeman said. They agreed to meet in the lobby at 12:30 p.m. to find a waterfall, Freeman said. Moore told them he had made friends with the hotel bartender the night before, Freeman said, and the bartender sent them to a friend in El Limón for sightseeing. Moore drove the four in a white Kia rental car to El Limón, where they met the bartender’s friend. Cheryl Freeman Orlando Moore told fellow resort guests that the hotel bartender recommended a guide for horseback riding. For $20 per person, the friend took them horseback riding up a mountain and down to a valley where they spent the afternoon by a waterfall. Freeman shared gleeful photos of the couples sharing toasts and sipping drinks from pineapples. In one photo, they smiled and hugged as they posed in front of a waterfall. Another photo captured Moore on horseback. Concerns arise about driving At some point in the day, Freeman said she learned that the couple had a flight around 2 a.m. out of Santo Domingo, located roughly 100 miles from their resort. Ravenelle told Freeman that they got a good deal on the airfare, but she had not realized how far it was from their hotel. To make it to the airport on time, the couple had rented the car they used for sightseeing, Freeman said. But Ravenelle expressed anxiety about the prospect of driving at night, Freeman said. Throughout the day, Freeman said Ravenelle was on her phone talking to the rental company about what time they would return the car. Ravenelle also said she was talking to her daughter, according to Freeman. Cheryl Freeman Portia Ravenelle and Cheryl Freeman spent a day together sighseeing with their partners. On the drive to El Limón, Freeman said Ravenelle told them that the rental company warned them to not stop and open their windows for anyone because the locals know which cars are rentals, and try to mug tourists. During the drive, Ravenelle told Moore not to roll down his window for the men on speed bikes driving up next to their car, Freeman said. On the way back to the hotel, Ravenelle repeatedly asked Moore if he was sure they had enough gas to make it to the airport. She kept checking to make sure their phones were charged enough to use the GPS, Freeman said. A disco excursion After returning to the hotel, the couples separated for dinner, Freeman said. They agreed to meet around 8:30 p.m. to go to a disco in Samana. At the bar, the couples split a bottle of rum. They also saw the hotel bartender and his wife there, Freeman said. Again, Freeman said Ravenelle appeared nervous, wanting to leave because she was worried about traveling to the airport and returning the car. Freeman said she was nervous, too, as a tourist in Samana. Locals “harassed you constantly and there were always people trying to get you to follow them and do stuff,” she said. “I would not recommend it.” They returned to the resort between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday. They hugged goodbye in the lobby and promised to exchange photos over email and 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 the last thing the couple said to them was that they were going upstairs to pack up and check out. That was the last they heard from them After the couple left, Warrington, Freeman’s boyfriend, sent Moore an email wishing them a safe flight. He never heard back from him. Freeman said she did not realize the couple had gone missing until she returned to Halifax on March 31 and discovered several emails from Ravenelle’s family. Freeman said no law enforcement agencies have contacted her about their disappearance. Now, details about the resort stick out in Freeman’s mind. She noted that there was a security guard armed with a rifle guarding her villa every night at the hotel. She also said the public could access the resort via the beach. In the brief time she knew her, Freeman said Ravenelle came off as “very cautious, adding that she would be surprised if Ravenelle would have let Moore stop even for directions. Meanwhile, Moore’s family is also searching for answers. His sister said she filed a police report with Mount Vernon Police on March 29. But the office of the chief said no report was filed about Moore, and the department is not conducting an investigation. Turner said she has been trying to call law enforcement in the Dominican Republic, but has struggled to get information. “I’m scared, I don’t know what’s going on,” Turner told CNN. “My brother’s not the type to just run off, and not tell anybody.” CNN’s Rosa Flores and Jackie Castillo contributed to this report.<doc-sep>“We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss,” a State Department spokesperson said. “We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. The U.S. Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater responsibility than the protection of U.S. citizens overseas. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment.”<doc-sep>
Family and friends say the cell phones of Orlando Moore and Portia Ravenelle are off N.Y. Couple Goes Missing on Vacation in Dominican Republic: 'Something Strange Has Happened' Relatives of a missing New York couple are worried after they went missing late last month while on vacation in the Dominican Republic. Numerous outlets are reporting that the U.S. Department of State was made aware of the situation and are working with authorities in the Dominican Republic to locate Orlando Moore, 43, and Portia Ravenelle, 32. The Mount Vernon couple boarded a plane bound for the tropical island on March 23, reports New York’s PIX 11. According to NBC New York, they failed to return from their brief vacation on March 27. Orlando Moore Portia RavenelleCredit: Instagram Orlando Moore and Portia Ravenelle | Credit: Instagram • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. “I’m very worried,” Moore’s aunt told the New York Post Monday. “I am hoping that somewhere, they’re being held against their will and they’re alive. But as time goes by, we start thinking that something strange has happened.” PEOPLE’s email to the Consulate General of the Dominican Republic was not returned Tuesday. A State Department official tells PEOPLE, “We are aware of reports regarding a U.S. couple missing in the Dominican Republic. The welfare and safety of U.S. citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State.” The official added, “Due to privacy considerations, we have no further information to offer at this time.” CNN reports that locals warned Moore and Ravenelle about muggers. Cheryl Freeman and her boyfriend Carter Washington spent time with Moore and Ravenelle and told CNN they befriended the couple, who apparently had an early, pre-dawn flight home from an airport 100-plus miles from the resort they stayed at. PEOPLE was unable to reach Moore or Ravenelle’s family for comment. According to the Post, relatives say the couple never checked out of their hotel and never returned their rental car. Both their phones are off.