Crime

African-American Couple Found Dead in Dominican Republic Hotel

THE AFRO — A Black couple from Maryland was found dead in their resort room in the Dominican Republic, the U.S. State Department has announced. Cynthia Day, 49, and Nathaniel Holmes, 63, were due to leave Bahía Príncipe Playa Nueva Romana on May 25. When they didn’t check out, a hotel employee went to their rooms and found them dead, reportedly with “no signs of violence.” A bottle of heart medication was found nearby.

Published

7 years ago

June 9, 2019

Oakland Post

By Afro Staff

A Black couple from Maryland was found dead in their resort room in the Dominican Republic, the U.S. State Department has announced.

Cynthia Day, 49, and Nathaniel Holmes, 63, were due to leave Bahía Príncipe Playa Nueva Romana on May 25. When they didn’t check out, a hotel employee went to their rooms and found them dead, reportedly with “no signs of violence.” A bottle of heart medication was found nearby.

Local newspaper Diario Libre <https://www.diariolibre.com/actualidad/sucesos/uno-de-los-estadounidenses-hallados-muertos-en-hotel-de-la-romana-notifico-que-se-sentia-mal-de-salud-BL12917071> reported that Holmes had called down to the front desk the same morning, saying he felt ill. However, the couple reportedly declined treatment.

Friends and family of the engaged couple said they were enjoying their vacation and looking forward to their future as a married couple. Facebook posts by Holmes suggest the same. Several photos depict Day and Holmes kissing, hugging, interacting with local wildlife and the like. Holmes even said in one post, “Can somebody please loan me $250,000 bcuz I don’t want to come home!!!!!”

The couple’s demise come months after another African-American couple died under questionable circumstances in the tourist spot and after another American vacationer claimed she was attacked by a hotel employee.

In April the State Department even issued an advisory <https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/dominican-republic-travel-advisory.html> urging Americans to “exercise increased caution” when traveling to the country “due to crime.”

This article originally appeared in The Afro.

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Business

AG Bonta Announces Action on Cryptocurrency, Sextortion Fraud – Increasingly Targeting Gen-Z

California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning residents about a surge in cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion schemes that increasingly target Gen Z through social media platforms. With internet-based scams costing Americans nearly $21 billion in 2023, Bonta highlighted how artificial intelligence and deepfakes allow criminals to impersonate loved ones and promote fraudulent investment groups. The Attorney General’s Office has already shut down over 100 fraudulent websites and is now utilizing new legislative tools to recover assets for victims. Read more.

Published

1 week ago

November 3, 2026

Post News Group

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California Attorney General Rob Bonta warned residents about rising cryptocurrency fraud and online sextortion scams, urging Californians to recognize warning signs and protect themselves as scammers increasingly target younger people through social media.

Speaking at a news conference on Oct. 19, Bonta said Americans lost $20.9 billion to internet-based scams in 2025, including $11.4 billion to cryptocurrency scams. He said artificial intelligence, deepfakes, and malicious smart contracts have made fraud easier to carry out and more difficult to detect and prevent.

While older Californians remain targets, Bonta said his office has seen a sharp rise in reports of Gen Z consumers being targeted on platforms such as Twitch, TikTok, and Instagram.

One growing scheme involves so-called rug-pull scams, in which fraudsters promote low-priced stocks or volatile cryptocurrencies through online investment groups and streaming communities. After generating interest and driving up prices, scammers sell their holdings, causing values to collapse and leaving investors with losses.

Bonta also warned about sextortion, in which scammers trick or coerce victims into sharing explicit images before threatening to distribute them to friends and family unless they pay. He advised victims not to give in to demands, saying scammers often do not release the images when victims refuse to pay. Instead, he recommended ignoring and blocking the perpetrators.

Another scheme, known as recovery fraud, targets people who have already lost money to cryptocurrency scams. Fraudsters impersonate blockchain recovery specialists or law enforcement officials and demand additional payments while promising to recover stolen assets.

Bonta urged Californians to be skeptical of promises of large returns on small investments, fake cryptocurrencies resembling established ones, and celebrity endorsements that may have been generated using artificial intelligence. He also warned that scammers can use AI to impersonate loved ones through manipulated video and audio.

“Never use a crypto ATM,” Bonta said, emphasizing that transactions can be difficult to trace and reverse and that the machines lack adequate consumer protections.

His office has shut down more than 100 fraudulent websites over the past two years that collectively scammed victims out of at least $8.3 million, he said.

Bonta also highlighted Senate Bill 1208, which he said was recently signed into law. The measure allows law enforcement to petition a court to return seized cryptocurrency to victims, including when alleged perpetrators are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Residents who have fallen victim to scams can report them to the California Department of Justice at oag.ca.gov/report.

Bonta also urged victims not to feel embarrassed, stressing that scammers are responsible for the harm they cause.