One week ago, 38-year-old Canadian visitor Dorian Christian MacDonald died in mysterious conditions during a stay in the Dominican Republic, says CTV. MacDonald, from Nova Scotia, was staying in a hotel in Puerto Plata, a popular resort town.
On June 20, some time about 2 AM, he is said to have taken a quiet late-night walk along the beach. An hour later, he was reported missing. The local police, as well as the Civil Defense agency, responded immediately with a search operation. By around 4 AM shortly after, MacDonald’s body was discovered floating in the sea during high tide. Officials would later confirm that he had accidentally drowned.
“June 20th, on vacation in the DR, Dorian suddenly passed away in a drowning accident,” his friend Tara McKenzie posted on a GoFundMe account established to assist with costs. “Just 38 years old.” She went on to say, “He wasn’t a friend. He was my brother in all but blood and possibly more than some who share it. He was that person, his presence felt like it would just always be there. And now, somehow, just like that, he’s gone.”
Fundraiser to Bring Dorian Home
The fundraiser has so far raised over $33,000 toward its $40,000 goal, aiming to offset the substantial costs of bringing MacDonald’s body home to Nova Scotia. McKenzie explained the agonizing process, stating, “We don’t even get to even begin saying goodbye properly or grieve as we should until then. The whole process of getting a person back from another nation is a lengthy, costly and profoundly complex scenario which I would like to inflict upon no one.”
She went on, “Not counting flights, international documents, arranging a funeral, preparing his body, and all the bureaucratic nonsense, we are talking $10,000–$20,000 just to bring him home. And seriously? We simply want him out of that frozen human environment and back home where he belongs with us.
Canadian Authorities Respond
A Global Affairs Canada spokesperson confirmed to CTV News, “The department has been made aware of the passing away of a Canadian citizen in the Dominican Republic,” but explained, “for reasons of privacy, no additional information may be released.”
MacDonald’s death has also renewed fears, just three months after 20-year-old Sudiksha Konanki, a University of Pittsburgh student, went missing from a beach near her Punta Cana resort. Her body was never found, and though her family eventually accepted the verdict of accidental drowning, the case remains suspicious to investigators and U.S. officials.
