The National Police on the Caribbean island have not disclosed details of the car crash, which authorities said happened near kilometer marker 19 on Las Americas highway - a lengthy stretch of road that runs parallel to the Caribbean Sea. Authorities said there was not evidence of foul play.
Police did say where Moore and Ravenelle were found.
Ravenelle, they said, was discovered on the side of the road with severe injuries the day of the crash. She did not have identifying documents and was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated in the intensive care unit. The woman died there on April 4 - nine days after the alleged car crash.
Authorities said they recovered a body presumed to be Moore's from the water on March 31 near Sans Souci, about 20km from the location of the car crash. The body was in an "advanced state of decomposition," Dominican authorities said in a statement, making it difficult to identify. But they found a tattoo on the person's arm that matched one Moore had, police told CNN.
Fishermen reported seeing a vehicle at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, police said, though authorities had not yet been able to recover it because of rough waters.
Dominican authorities said Tuesday that both bodies had been sent to the National Institute of Forensic Pathology for identification and autopsies. In a statement Wednesday, the US State Department confirmed Ravenelle's death, but it did not comment on Moore.
Officials in the US have not released information on how the two died.
"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss," a State Department spokesperson said. "We are closely monitoring local authorities' investigation into the cause of death. We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no greater responsibility than the protection of US citizens overseas. Out of respect to the family during this difficult time, we have no further comment."
Friends and family of Moore and Ravenelle expressed devastation at the news and confusion about the way police say they died.
Francesca Figueroa, who ate dinner and watched a movie with the couple the night before they left for the Dominican Republic, told CNN that on March 31, she spoke to a US Embassy representative who told her "no bodies were found, there were no dead bodies reported, no accidents, no one was in jail."
She felt a sense of relief, Figueroa told CNN, until Tuesday.
Figueroa said she had known Moore for 25 years and considered him family.
On Tuesday, Figueroa said she spoke to authorities about her friend and confirmed a tattoo on Moore's arm of his daughter's name, "Milan."
"Everybody is devastated," Figueroa told CNN.
Moore was widely known in their town of Mount Vernon, New York.
Figueroa said she is "saddened" it took so long to find out what happened - their families left in the dark, Ravenelle alone in the hospital.
"She had to die by herself," Figueroa told CNN. "When one of us could have been there holding her hand."
