Akwesasne officials have named two family members of Romanian descent — including a man holding his two children’s passports — who were among eight bodies recovered this week from the St. Lawrence River, near the Quebec-Ontario border.
In a statement on Saturday, the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service said one man has been identified as 28-year-old Florin Iordache. Police said he had two Canadian passports in his possession — one for his two-year-old child and another for his one-year-old infant whose bodies were recovered.
One woman — Florin’s wife and the children’s mother — has also been identified as 28-year-old Cristina (Monalisa) Zenaida Iordache.
Police previously said they believed the four to be members of a Romanian family who were attempting to cross into the United States near the Kanien’kehá:ka community of Akwesasne — which straddles Quebec, Ontario and New York state.
Family members told CBC News Saturday they hadn’t heard from the family in a week and that they knew they were planning to come to the U.S. to join family in Orlando, Fla.
The family in Orlando also confirmed to CBC News that Florin was traveling with his wife and two children. They now want to find a way to repatriate their bodies to their hometown in Romania.
On Saturday, police said that four Indian nationals, who they also believed were a family attempting to cross into the U.S., have not been identified.
Full Story: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/akwesasne-community-river-deaths-1.6798695
