Two suspects have been arrested in South Florida after being accused of breaking into the home of a couple who were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya last week.
The accused allegedly waited less than 24 hours after their deaths were announced to make their move, police said.
According to Coral Gables police, 40-year-old Geybert Alexander Garcia and 24-year-old Melany Perdomo ransacked the home.
According to CBS News, police said the incident took place sometime between Thursday and Saturday.
Investigators said Garcia and Perdomo took valuable works of art, jewellery, electronics, and personal and business documents.
Police said they also took the couple’s Land Rover and Porsche SUV.
The items belonged to 55-year-old Henry Parra and 42-year-old Adam Hlavaty, police said.
They were among seven people, including five Americans, who were killed when a helicopter they were in while on safari in Kenya crashed on August 19.
Authorities identified the pilot as Josh Outran and the passengers as Sensi-Contugi, his wife Hollihan Vásconez, Roger Duarte, Adam Hlavaty, Henry Parra and Suian Suarez.
Police said a ping from the couple’s stolen MacBook led investigators to Garcia and Perdomo. Both face multiple charges, including burglary and grand theft auto. Both suspects appeared before a judge and were held without bond.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause for the charges and ordered them to stay away from the Coral Gables home.
In court, a family friend testified about the damage that the suspects left behind at the home.
She said the security system was broken into, and the front door was also left with extensive damage that the family has to replace, including the front lock.
The helicopter crashed at 9:13 a.m. on August 19 while flying from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority.
Journalist José Alberto Suárez – president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49, and Telemundo Fort Myers–Naples, and who worked at CBS Miami in the 1990s – was among those killed in the crash.
Miami restaurateur Roger Duarte was also killed in the crash, a statement from his family confirmed, saying they were “devastated and heartbroken”.
CBS News Miami spoke with one neighbour who said she gave Coral Gables police video from her surveillance camera showing the suspects leaving the scene. She said she only wanted to share it with police.
