Coral Gables home of couple killed in Kenya helicopter crash burglarized, police say

Police have arrested a man and a woman accused of ransacking the Coral Gables home of a married couple who died last week in a helicopter crash in Kenya.

The Aug. 19 crash near Mount Ololokwe, in Kenya’s Samburu County, killed all seven people on board. Among the dead were Coral Gables residents Henry Parra and Adam Hlavaty; longtime media executive José Alberto Suárez, president and general manager of Telemundo’s Orlando, Tampa, and Fort Myers stations; and Miami entrepreneur Roger Duarte, founder of George Stone Crabs and co-founder of My Ceviche.

Sometime between Thursday, Aug. 20, and Saturday, Aug. 22, Melany Perdomo, 24, and Geybert Alexander Garcia, 40, ransacked Parra and Hlavaty’s home and removed “numerous items belonging to the decedent, such as personal and business documents, jewelry, electronics, and artwork,” according to a police report attached at the bottom of this story.

The pair also stole a 2023 Range Rover, a 2020 Porsche Taycan, an Apple MacBook Pro and an art sculpture valued at more than $500,000, according to the report.

Parra and Hlavaty’s housekeeper discovered the burglary Sunday, police said.

A ping from the couple’s MacBook and location data from the Range Rover placed the missing items at Garcia and Perdomo’s home in Hialeah, according to the report. After confirming the cars were parked outside, Coral Gables police and Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies executed a search warrant there Tuesday.

Officers found Garcia hiding in a closet and Perdomo in an upstairs bedroom, the report said. During the search, police say they “located and identified numerous stolen documents” belonging to the couple, as well as the Range Rover’s key fob.

“Officers also located several items and instruments consistent with the production and/or alteration of fraudulent identification documents and personal identifying information,” the report said.

The report mentions the helicopter crash but doesn’t say whether or how police believe Garcia and Perdomo learned of the couple’s deaths before the burglary.

Jail records show both were arrested on multiple felony charges, including burglary and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Garcia and Perdomo were being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Wednesday afternoon with bond listed as “to be set.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.