Six Suspects Arrested in Dominican Republic After Murder of American Teacher

Six suspects were taken into custody over the weekend after an American teacher was found dead inside her home in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, last week.

Authorities announced Sunday that they had arrested Michael Marinez Rosario, Heuri Flores Hernandez, Junior Alexis Suarez, Juan Jose Andujar Mella, Oroniel Canario Montero, and Alexis Maquey in connection with the robbery and murder of 63-year-old Patricia Ann Anton.

Police said four of the suspects have prior criminal records, according to ABC 7.

However, authorities noted that they are still looking for a seventh suspect who goes by the name “Eidan,” or “The Venezuelan.”

“Police said all seven suspects traveled to Puerto Plata with the intention of committing crimes before they fled,” the report stated.

Anton, who was a curriculum program director at 3 Mariposas Montessori in Cabarete, was found bound and strangled to death inside her apartment Tuesday.

She had been robbed of her cellphone, laptop, television, sheets, and one pair of shoes, according to Breitbart News.

Anton had worked at the school for six years after moving to the Dominican Republic from Michigan.

“She would light up a room upon entering it and be sure to make everyone smile and laugh with her wonderful sense of humor,” school founder Sarah Ludwig-Ross told the New York Daily News. “Patty was a mentor, a friend, a leader, and a counselor to many.”

In a statement to ABC News, Ludwig-Ross said:

Patty was not only a colleague of mine, but she was also my mentor and one of my best friends. She was one of the most caring people I have ever met, always putting everyone else first. She shared our belief that peace in the world can only come from getting close to and understanding people who are different from ourselves. … Patty loved each and every one of our children just as if they were her own.

Anton’s family members said they have made plans to erect a “peace park” at the school in honor of their loved one.

Dominican National Police spokesperson, Frank Felix Duran Mejia, told news outlets last week that authorities were working with the U.S. State Department to “continue to look for evidence that would lead us to solve this case as quickly as possible.”