Canadian tourist Dorian Christian MacDonald, 38, found dead after ‘drowning accident' on Dominican Republic beach
A Canadian tourist was found dead in the water at a Dominican Republic resort in what loved ones described as a drowning accident last week.
Dorian Christian MacDonald was last seen walking along the beaches of Puerto Plata just after 2 a.m. during his solo trip to the northern coast of the Caribbean Island on June 20, according to CTV News.
MacDonald was staying at a hotel in the resort town of Maimon Bay when he went for the overnight stroll — an hour before police received calls reporting him missing.
5 Dorian MacDonald was found dead in the waters of the Dominican Republic on June 20, 2025.
Tara McKenzie/Facebook
The 38-year-old's body was discovered in the water during high tide just after 4 a.m., the outlet reported, citing local officials.
An official cause of death wasn't announced, but a family friend reported that MacDonald had drowned.
'Dorian died suddenly in a drowning accident. He was only 38 years old. And now, the world feels a lot quieter and a whole lot less vibrant just knowing he's no longer a part of it,' Tara McKenzie wrote on a GoFundMe.
'The painful reality is now facing the unthinkable task of trying to bring him back to Nova Scotia in a timely manner—to his Mom, his sisters, his family, his people. As much as we know how much he loved DR, we need him home,' McKenzie added.
The fundraiser is intended to raise money to bring MacDonald's body back to Canada.
'We don't get to even begin saying goodbye properly or grieve as we should until then,' McKenzie said.
5 MacDonald was staying at a hotel in the resort town of Maimon Bay when he went for the overnight stroll — an hour before police received calls reporting him missing.
Tara McKenzie/Facebook
5 The beach of Maimon Bay in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Universal Images Group via Getty
The grieving friend said it would cost $10,000 to $20,000 to get MacDonald out of the 'cold system' of red tape, paperwork, international flights, body preparation and funeral arrangements.
McKenzie paid tribute to her 'brother from another,' sharing 80 photos and text messages of the two dating back to 2016.
'I didn't want to ever have to write this.. So I don't know what exactly to say yet…I'm definitely still massively in denial that a presence as infectious as yours could actually be truly gone from this world…You were a part of my life, past, present and I prayed future…' she wrote in a Facebook post.
MacDonald's death is the latest involving tourists to strike the Caribbean nation's beaches.
University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki disappeared while swimming during her spring break trip to Punta Cana in the early hours of March 6.
The 20-year-old was with Joshua Riibe, a St. Cloud State University student, at the time.
The couple had met at the beginning of the trip.
Riibe, 22, was detained by authorities and questioned in Konanki's disappearance.
5 Tara McKenzie and Dorian MacDonald pose in an undated picture.
Tara McKenzie/Facebook
5 McKenzie paid tribute to her 'brother from another,' sharing 80 photos and text messages of the two dating back to 2016.
Tara McKenzie/Facebook
The parents of the missing Washington DC native asked officials to declare their daughter dead and clear Riibe of any wrongdoing in Konanki's death, which a judge obliged with on March 30.
Konanki's body has not been recovered.
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