Ex Miss Venezuela Monica Spear Mootz, aged 29 and her husband Thomas Berry, 39 were tragically murdered in front of their 5 year old daughter on the Puerto-Cabello to Valencia highway.
The couple were gunned down by armed men after their car broke down on the motorway. They had called a repair company and locked themselves in their Toyota Corolla, but the thugs opened fire through the windows.
It is not yet known if their young daughter who is now under the protection of the authorities and is believed to be called Maya, was shot by assailants. However she received injuries to her leg.
Ms Spear was a famous TV actress following her pageant victory and appeared in a number of telenovelas (South American soap operas), with her roll in 'Forbidden Passions' the most notable. She was well-known throughout the Spanish-speaking world as a result.
She was a graduate of the University of Central Florida, had American citizenship and her parents live in Orlando, Florida. Mr Berry, who describes himself as an independent travel consultant in an online profile, lives in the capital Caracas, reports El Universal. He moved to Florida after he was shot 15 years ago, but couldn't resist the lure of the country he loved.
The annual murder rate in Caracas alone is an average of 80 murders per 100,000 people, the third highest in the world.
Majority of murders occur in the slums where police presence is minimal. Eastern Caracas is home to South America’s largest slum, named Petare with more than two million residents, where the police to public ratio is 1 officer to every 3,000 people. There were an estimated 24,000 murders in 2013, one of the world’s highest homicide rates. It has tripled in the previous decade. Gun ownership is also high, with an estimated 15m unlicensed weapons in circulation.
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