Dominican Republic: Four missing persons found dead in one week

Between August 25 and August 31, at least four individuals previously reported as missing were found dead in various locations across the Dominican Republic. Three bodies were discovered in brushwood and one was found in a septic tank. A fifth victim was located in a wooded area in the municipality of Consuelo, San Pedro de Macorís.

One victim, Albert Jesús Aracena Núñez, was found on August 25 buried in a deep hole in a forested area of Moca, Espaillat province, after being missing for 21 days. A preliminary report from the National Institute of Forensic Sciences (Inacif) determined he died of mechanical asphyxia, classifying it as a “violent death, of medico-legal homicide etiology.” Four people were arrested in connection with this case, including Iván Arias Espinosa, the owner of the New York Grill, who is being investigated for concealing the body.

On August 26, the body of 56-year-old Héctor Cedeño Ávila was discovered in a septic tank at a farm he was tending in the Villa Hermosa municipality, La Romana province. Preliminary information suggests he may have also died from mechanical asphyxia.