In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the authorities announced on Thursday that they have identified the two victims who were discovered deceased inside the wheel well of a JetBlue plane at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in January.
According to WPLG, a news partner of News 6, the Broward Sheriff’s Office confirmed the identities of the victims as Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16, following extensive DNA testing.
Back in January, a relative of Aniluz Lusi had informed Local 10 News that the teenager had been missing since January 3rd, confirming his identity as one of the individuals found in the plane’s wheel well.
The relative, Nelson René, said some in their community in the Dominican Republic suspected that Aniluz Lusi and two other teens planned to escape the country.
He said the whereabouts of one of the teens remains unknown.
According to a spokesperson for JetBlue, the victims’ bodies were discovered Jan. 6 in the landing gear compartment of the plane during a “routine post-flight maintenance inspection.”
The victims were already dead when they were found, the spokesperson confirmed.
According to flight radar data, the flight arrived at 11:03 p.m. that night from New York’s JFK International Airport.
A BSO spokesman confirmed at the time that Airport District deputies responded to the scene at about 11:30 p.m. and paramedics pronounced the victims dead at the scene.
The victims’ cause of death has not yet been released, although BSO confirmed that autopsies were performed on both victims.
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