{"id":207491,"date":"2025-12-30T00:00:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207491\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T00:00:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T00:00:07","slug":"gatineau-couple-found-dead-while-vacationing-in-dominican-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/207491\/","title":{"rendered":"Gatineau couple found dead while vacationing in Dominican Republic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/a\/assets\/texttospeech.svg\" alt=\"Text to Speech Icon\" width=\"44\" height=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Listen to this article<\/p>\n<p>Estimated 3 minutes<\/p>\n<p>The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n<p>A Gatineau, Que., family is in mourning this holiday season after a couple was found dead while vacationing in the Dominican Republic. <\/p>\n<p>The son of Alain No\u00ebl and Christine Sauv\u00e9 found their bodies inside the couple&#8217;s vacation home on Boxing Day, the family told Radio-Canada. <\/p>\n<p>The cause of death is unknown and local authorities are investigating. <\/p>\n<p>Sauv\u00e9&#8217;s brother Gilles Sauv\u00e9 Jr. said local authorities told him autopsy results will be sent to the family within 45 days. <\/p>\n<p>He was visibly shaken when he spoke to Radio-Canada in French. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was their retirement plan, like snowbirds,&#8221; he said of the couple&#8217;s frequent trips overseas. <\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Everything is progressing very slowly&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Sauv\u00e9 said he spoke with his sister the day before she and No\u00ebl were found dead. She told him she had gone to the hospital because she felt dizzy. <\/p>\n<p>She had blood tests done and was supposed to undergo more scans on Boxing Day, Sauv\u00e9 said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the end, it didn&#8217;t come to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Sauv\u00e9 said he&#8217;s now in the Dominican Republic to obtain death certificates, meet with authorities and repatriate the bodies to Quebec.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What&#8217;s very difficult is that we&#8217;re not in Quebec [and it&#8217;s] the holiday season. Everything is closed, including the embassies. We&#8217;re trying to get things done, but everything is progressing very slowly,&#8221; he said. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Even in Quebec, we can&#8217;t begin the process until we have the death certificate here in the Dominican Republic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Global Affairs Canada said Canadian officials are providing consular assistance and communicating with local authorities to obtain more information. <\/p>\n<p>Community figures<\/p>\n<p>Sauv\u00e9 described the couple as coming from a close-knit family. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Alain was a bon vivant, he had many friends,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He was a big softie in a very imposing man&#8217;s body.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Gatineau city Coun. Luc Ch\u00e9nier says No\u00ebl and Sauv\u00e9 left their mark on the community.\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1767052807_683_default.jpg\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.791919191919192\" data-cy=\"image-img\"\/>Gatineau Coun. Luc Ch\u00e9nier says No\u00ebl and Sauv\u00e9 left their mark on the community. (Olivier Plante\/Radio-Canada)<\/p>\n<p>Gatineau Coun. Luc Ch\u00e9nier, a former Gatineau Olympiques junior hockey team player, said he knows the family well. Christine Sauv\u00e9 was the daughter of the team&#8217;s former co-owner.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They are hockey fans &#8230; and this franchise is a big part of it. Even the children and grandchildren have been involved with the Olympiques,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Ch\u00e9nier said No\u00ebl and Sauv\u00e9 left their mark on the wider community, and were known for their elaborately decorated house on Halloween.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What\u2019s so sad is that people work their whole lives to achieve something, and then tragedy strikes,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-207491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}