High school sweethearts Leomer and Erika Joyce Lagradilla tied the knot in presence of friends and families as 2018 drew to a close, sealing the deal after more than a decade of being a couple.
Both were nurses by profession, but their jobs brought them to separate parts of Asia–Singapore and Riyadh, respectively.On 11th January, they ticked off Maldives from their bucket list of destinations when they headed there for their honeymoon.
The island had been their long cherished dream for quite a long time, Mhapolle, Leomer’s sister, told ABS-CBN News in an interview over a messaging service.
Regrettably, it was also in this tropical paradise that they met their demise.
The family has yet to find out the exact details of their death, Mhapolle said.
Local news agency RaajjeMV reported on Sunday that a certain couple drowned in Dhiffushi island of Kaafu atoll. They were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, a report quoting the Maldives Police Service as saying.
The incident happened while they were snorkeling, said the Department of Foreign Affairs, which extended its sympathies to the bereaved and assured assistance in the repatriation of the couple’s remains.
A source from the island told the news agency that the then-unidentified man drowned first, then the woman sought help.
“However, by the time someone had reached them on a dinghy, they were both motionless, afloat on the surface of the water,” the report read.
The Philippine Embassy in Dhaka, which has jurisdiction over Maldives, has been instructed to coordinate with authorities and to make arrangements for the repatriation of the newlyweds, the DFA said in a statement.
Mhapolle remembers her brother and her sister-in-law as “amazing” and “down to earth” people. Hailing from Lumban and Sta. Cruz towns in Laguna, respectively, the two were responsible eldest children who were also their families’ breadwinner.
Leomer and Erika’s family and friends are now seeking help in collecting over a million pesos, or P634,000 for each body, to bring the remains back home.
This GoGetFunding page has also been set up for those who would like to help.
Source:news.abs-cbn.com
