MYSTERY DEATHS

Teens Found Dead in JetBlue Landing Gear Are Finally Named

Extensive DNA testing was used to confirm their identities.

The two teenagers whose bodies were discovered in a JetBlue airliner’s landing gear have been identified by Florida investigators, NBC News reported. The pair were found after a New York City-to-Fort Lauderdale flight back in January. According to a statement by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, detectives needed to use “extensive DNA testing” to ID Jeik Aniluz Lusi, 18, and Elvis Borques Castillo, 16. The bodies of both the teens, originally from the Dominican Republic, were discovered late on Jan. 6 after JetBlue Flight 1801 landed in South Florida. The flight took off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport that evening at 7:49 p.m. and landed at 11:10 p.m. The aircraft, however, also made a stop in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, on Jan. 5. It is not yet known how the teenagers got into the landing gear or how they died.