Gables couple killed in helicopter crash were targeted by identity theft ring, police say

Shortly after Henry Parra and Adam Hlavaty were killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya, their home was ransacked and their identities stolen as part of a targeted scheme, just two of the many victims of what police believe is an elaborate criminal network.

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Two people have been arrested in connection with the crime so far, and more arrests are expected, according to Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak.

“We have basically kicked a beehive of a criminal enterprise,” Hudak said in a Friday morning joint news conference with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, ATF, Diplomatic Security Service and Secret Service.

Geybert Alexander Garcia, 40, and Melany Perdomo, 24, were arrested this week at a home Hudak described as “ground zero of identity theft” on the 8300 block of Northwest 195th Terrace in Miami-Dade County.

At the home, detectives said they recovered boxes of stolen identities, ranging from fictitious driver’s licenses to fake passports, and at least 20 key fobs of stolen cars. At least a dozen firearms were also recovered at the home, two of which have already been confirmed stolen, Hudak told the Miami Herald.

“They had already printed a fake ID with the two individuals’ address in the printer,” Hudak said, referring to Parra and Hlavaty. He said detectives are now working to contact other victims.

Detectives are still working to determine if Garcia and Perdomo knew the couple. What detectives do know is that Garcia and Perdomo targeted the couple’s home upon learning about their death in the crash. Hudak clarified that the burglary has “no correlation” with the actual helicopter crash, just that the suspects took advantage of the news.

The crash happened on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Parra and Hlavaty were among seven people killed when the helicopter went down. José Alberto Suárez, an executive at Telemundo/NBC, and Roger Duarte, who owned George Stone Crab, were among the dead. Also killed were Michele Sensi-Contugi, Stephany Hollihan and pilot Josh Outram.

“It’s really shocking and unfathomable to think that something like this would happen while families are mourning and grieving for loss of loved ones,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.

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Police say the burglary suspects stole business documents and more than $500,000 worth of artwork, jewelry and electronics from the couple’s Gables home over the course of several days, along with their cars — a 2023 Range Rover and 2020 Porsche Taycan. The two cars have been recovered, along with five other stolen vehicles, including a Ford F250 pickup that was reported stolen out of Indian River County in 2022. The Gables home’s security systems, which the burglars took with them, have also been recovered.

On Wednesday in bond court, Garcia’s attorney claimed Garcia had a notarized and signed document that gave him permission to enter the home and “have possession of those vehicles,” WSVN reported. A longtime friend of the couple disputed that claim in court, according to the TV station. Hudak indicated in Friday’s news conference that police are looking into the validity of the document.

“I don’t think I’ve ever in my 38 years [of service] have somebody have an affidavit from a dead person that says I could be at your house and, quite frankly, put themselves in the house and use our cars,” Hudak said. “I don’t know why that happened, but we will get that answer because those guys over there are working around the clock on all the evidence that they found.”

The timeline

The crash happened Wednesday, Aug. 19. Police believe the suspects broke into the couple’s Valencia Avenue home shortly after, some time between Thursday, Aug. 20, and Saturday, Aug. 22, according to the suspects’ arrest affidavits. Hudak said the suspects took their time in the home and were “probably in there for approximately two days.”

The burglary was reported to police by the couple’s housekeeper on Sunday, Aug. 23, when she checked in on the home, according to the arrest reports.

On Monday, Aug. 24, one of the couple’s business partners told detectives that she used an app to find out where a stolen Macbook Pro computer was located. The business partner also used an app to find the Range Rover, according to the report. That eventually led police to the suspects.

Anyone with information that can help detectives with their investigation is asked to contact police.

Read more Gables couple killed in helicopter crash were targeted by identity theft ring, police say

“We have just scratched the surface of this criminal enterprise,” Hudak said.

Miami Herald staff writer David Goodhue contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 28, 2026 at 12:51 PM.