According to Coral Gables police, 40-year-old Geybert Alexander Garcia and 24-year-old Melany Perdomo targeted the residence of 55-year-old Henry Parra and 42-year-old Adam Hlavaty between August 20 and August 22.
Authorities believe the suspects acted less than 24 hours after public announcements confirmed the couple’s deaths abroad.
Parra and Hlavaty were among seven people killed on August 19 when a Eurocopter EC130 B4 crashed near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, Kenya, while en route from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro region.
The disaster also claimed the lives of prominent South Florida figures, including Telemundo executive José Alberto Suárez and Miami restaurateur Roger Duarte.
The couple had left for their vacation on August 12 and arranged for a housekeeper to inspect the property daily.
When the housekeeper returned on August 23, she discovered the front door severely forced, the security surveillance system destroyed, and the residence thoroughly ransacked.
Investigators revealed that the intruders systematically cleared out high-value personal belongings, including artwork, jewelry, electronics, and crucial personal and business documents.
The stolen property included an art sculpture valued at over $500,000 (Ksh. 64.6 million), an Apple MacBook Pro, a 2023 Land Rover Range Rover, and a 2020 Porsche Taycan.
The break-in led to a swift investigation when police tracked digital signals emitting from the victims’ stolen MacBook, along with GPS location data from the Range Rover.
The signals directed detectives to a residence along Northwest 195th Terrace in the Miami-Dade area, where both luxury vehicles were parked outside.
Coral Gables police and Miami-Dade officers executed a search warrant at the premises, discovering Garcia hiding inside a closet and Perdomo located in an upstairs bedroom.
Inside the residence, officers recovered the stolen artwork, documents belonging to Parra and Hlavaty, and the key fob for the Range Rover.
Additionally, detectives seized equipment and materials consistent with producing and altering fraudulent identification documents.
Both suspects were booked into the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center and charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and first-degree grand theft of property valued at more than $100,000 (Ksh.13 million).
During a bond hearing before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy S. Glazer, defense counsel claimed Garcia had permission to enter the residence.
However, family friends vehemently refuted that assertion in court testimony, describing the destruction left behind and the added emotional toll on visiting family members from Indiana who arrived to find the home burglarized.
Judge Glazer found probable cause for the charges, ordered both defendants held without bond, and issued a strict stay-away order for the Coral Gables property.
Police continue to investigate how the suspects obtained information regarding the home’s vacant status following the tragedy in Kenya.
