Venezuela beauty queen Monica Spear, 29, was gunned down on the side of a country road while traveling by car with her ex-husband, who was also killed.
The car broke down in Carabobo state in Venezuela, and armed robbers opened fire on Ms. Spear and Thomas Henry Berry, CNN reported. The couple’s daughter, 5, survived with a shot to the leg, authorities said.
“It was presumed that the motive was robbery,” said Venezuelan Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres, of the Monday incident. “We are still investigating. There are five people detained who are being investigated.”
Ms. Spear became Miss Venezuela in 2004 and went on to represent her nation in the Miss Universe pageant in 2005. She was also a much-admired soap opera star, with jobs in Colombia and the United States, CNN said.
She lived in Miami, but was vacationing in Venezuela with her family when she was killed.
“We are deeply impacted and saddened by the horrible crime that the beloved actress Monica Spear and her family suffered,” her network said in a statement reported by CNN. “Monica was not just a great professional, as she showed in the two soap operas that she worked on with us … but also she was an excellent person, always enthusiastic and with great strength and determination.”
Nicolas Maduro, the president of Venezuela, said the killing was a massacre.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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