Dominican Republic

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American Flight Bound for NC Makes a Sad, Unexpected Stop

Indiana woman dies after falling sick midflight; plane made emergency landing on Caribbean isle

(Newser) - A flight from the Dominican Republic to North Carolina made an emergency stop in the Turks and Caicos Islands this week after a woman fell ill during the trip and later died. A Wednesday social media post from the archipelago's police force, which deemed the incident a "sudden...

Brazilian Butt Lifts Are Killing Americans Abroad

Nearly 100 people from the US have died in the Dominican Republic since 2009

(Newser) - US health officials say 93 Americans have died after cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic since 2009, with many of the recent deaths involving a procedure known as a Brazilian butt lift. The operation has grown in popularity recently and has led to deaths in other countries as well, including...

MLB Star Accused of Paying Underage Girl's Mom

Wander Franco is in jail in the Dominican Republic

(Newser) - Dominican prosecutors have accused Wander Franco of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering following allegations that the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop had a relationship with a minor whose mother also faces the same charges. Prosecutors requested that a judge hold Franco on an $86,000 bond, bar him from leaving...

In Case of Accused MLB Star, 'New Evidence Has Been Found'

But raids in Dominican Republic in search of Tampa Bay Rays' Wander Franco come up empty

(Newser) - The search for a Tampa Bay Rays shortstop continues. Authorities in the Dominican Republic searched in vain Tuesday for Wander Franco at his home there and his mother's following this summer's allegations that the 22-year-old had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with at least one minor, reports the...

11 Dead, 31 Rescued After Helicopter Spots Capsized Boat

Boat loaded with suspected migrants overturned near Puerto Rico

(Newser) - A boat loaded with suspected migrants capsized north of an uninhabited island near Puerto Rico and 11 people had been confirmed dead while 20 men and 11 women were rescued Thursday, authorities said. It wasn't immediately clear how many people were aboard the boat when it turned over, said...

9 Dead, Including Music Producer, in Plane Crash

Gulfstream jet had just taken off from Dominican Republic airport, headed to Florida

(Newser) - A private jet attempting to land minutes after beginning a flight to Florida crashed in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday, killing all nine people aboard, including Puerto Rican music producer José Ángel Hernández, the aircraft's operating company reported. Helidosa Aviation Group said on its Twitter account that...

20 Years On, US' 2nd-Deadliest Plane Crash Still Hits Hard

Memorials mark anniversary of November 2001 tragedy out of JFK airport

(Newser) - In three minutes, 265 people lost their lives: the 260 people aboard Flight 587, which had taken off from New York City's JFK Airport, and five people on the ground in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Queens' Rockaway peninsula, where the plane crashed in an eruption of fire and...

Alleged Mobster Covered His Face on YouTube Videos, Forgot His Tattoos

Tats were visible on cooking show of alleged 'Ndrangheta gangster from Italy, hiding in DR

(Newser) - Come for the pasta making, stay for the arrest. Since 2014, Marc Feren Claude Biart, a purported member of Italy's infamous 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, has been on the run from authorities in his home country after allegedly taking part in a Dutch cocaine trafficking operation. The BBC reports...

Friends of Almost a Decade Find Out They're Sisters
BFFs Make Startling Discovery
After Taking DNA Tests
in case you missed it

BFFs Make Startling Discovery After Taking DNA Tests

Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti of Connecticut find out they're actually sisters

(Newser) - There are scatterings of stories about long-lost siblings meeting after completing DNA testing kits. But one such story is especially amazing because, as the Washington Post reports, the two women who discovered they were sisters were already great friends. Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti developed a close relationship while working...

Marco Is a Hurricane, and It's Not Alone

Tropical Storm Laura is also headed for the US coast

(Newser) - Marco became a hurricane over the Gulf of Mexico Sunday on a path toward the Louisiana coast. Tropical Storm Laura battered the Dominican Republic and Haiti and headed to the same part of the US coast, also as a potential hurricane, the AP reports. It would be the first time...

American Woman Killed in Dominican Republic

Patricia Anton, 63, had been teaching there for the last 15 years

(Newser) - A Michigan woman teaching in the Dominican Republic for the last 15 years was murdered during an apparent robbery of her home, police say. Patricia Anton, 63, was strangled in her residence in the resort town of Cabarete, Puerto Plata, reports the Daily News . A cellphone, laptop, 40-inch TV, sheets,...

FBI Throws Cold Water on 'Poisoned Alcohol' Theory

Seems US tourists in the Dominican Republic died of natural causes after all

(Newser) - Looks like three of the Americans found dead in the Dominican Republic in recent months died of natural causes, CNN reports. That's based on FBI toxicology tests of Nathaniel Holmes, Cynthia Day, and Miranda Schaup-Werner, whose May deaths helped trigger a scare over allegedly counterfeit or poisoned alcohol in...

David Ortiz: Here's What Really Happened

The former Red Sox slugger tells what it was like to be shot

(Newser) - "I almost died, man. I was in a coma. People were criticizing me as if I deserved to be killed." So said a teary-eyed David Ortiz in his first interview after being shot in the Dominic Republic on June 9, CNN reports. When the bullet slashed through his...

Hospital Releases David Ortiz
Hospital Releases David Ortiz

Hospital Releases David Ortiz

Retired Red Sox star was shot in the back last month

(Newser) - David Ortiz, the retired Red Sox star who was shot in the back last month, has been released from a Boston hospital. He was sitting on a bar patio in Santo Domingo on June 9 when a gunman approached and shot him; the lead prosecutor has said Ortiz may have...

Schumer: ATF Should Probe Dominican Republic Deaths

'We still have a whole lot of questions and very few answers'

(Newser) - The Senate's top Democrat said Sunday that the US government should step up efforts to investigate the deaths of at least eight Americans in the Dominican Republic this year. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should lend support to the FBI and local law enforcement, said Sen....

Dominican Republic Resort Dispenses With Liquor Dispensers

GM says decision isn't linked to recent deaths

(Newser) - Liquor dispensers are being pulled from guest rooms at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino resort in Punta Cana following the deaths of two Americans. The move will "provide more tranquility for guests," General Manager Erica Lopez tells CNN , claiming the decision did not come in response to...

Long Island Man Is Latest to Die in Dominican Republic

Brother finds death 'very suspicious'

(Newser) - A 56-year-old man from Long Island has become the latest American tourist to die in the Dominican Republic—and while officials insist the recent spate of deaths in the country is not unusual, relatives of Vittorio Caruso say they are suspicious. Caruso died June 17 after experiencing respiratory distress and...

Latest Dominican Republic Sickness: a Bachelor Star

Melissa Rycroft is recovering at home after falling ill at Nickelodeon resort in Punta Cana

(Newser) - As troubling stories of mysterious illnesses and deaths in the Dominican Republic continue to mount , a familiar name to many has been caught up in the fray. Melissa Rycroft vacationed with her husband and three young children at Punta Cana's Nickelodeon resort earlier this month, and her rep tells...

FBI Probes Samples From One Minibar in Dominican Republic

Some say the death rate isn't statistically significant

(Newser) - The FBI is testing samples taken from at least one minibar at the Bahia Principe Hotel in Dominican Republic's La Romana, where three US tourists died in the span of five days last month. The agency is also assisting with toxicology tests on those tourists—41-year-old Miranda Schaup-Werner of...

Dominican AG Agrees With Ortiz Shooting Suspect

Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez says there was another target

(Newser) - The Dominican Republic's lead prosecutor says former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was not the target of a shooting in a nightclub in his hometown on June 9, the AP reports. Attorney General Jean Alain Rodríguez says the target was another man, dressed similarly to Ortiz, who was...

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